The Hunter's Monomyth
by i4md347h
Summary: After losing to the strongest hero, Garou woke into a world so alien yet so similar. Trapped inside another, he must set out with unlikely companions to uncover the secrets of his transmigration into a world where aliens fill the stars and evil from multiple timelines endanger the universe in his journey down the path of self-discovery. By the author of The Hunter Amongst Villains.
1. Chapter 1: Hunter Reawakened

**Greetings. Here's a surprising story I made with Doodleboy565. Credits to him for playing the Ben 10 characters so well, it is something even I am refreshingly surprised, so give kudos to him. Anyways, the story is just as it said. Recently felt like it after receiving an idea. Hope you like and enjoy as we did put a lot of work into this. There is literally more coming lol, in case you all don't know.**

* * *

Something was wrong.

His makeshift bed felt different, softer, and comfier than usual. He slowly opened his eyes, blinking the blur out of his eyes. He saw a window, the glaring light of the sun irritating his sight, forcing him to raise his hand to block it.

When he did, he saw that more things were wrong than he had thought.

For one thing, he noticed that his surrounding environment was completely different than what he could recall from recent memory. He peered out the window, seeing the grassy plains running by. Was he in a vehicle? Wait, whose face was this?

Garou looked at his dim reflection, seeing a face that did not belong to him. Instead of his usual spiky white hair, the so-called Hero Hunter had tousled brown locks and light green irises. He also wore a white T-shirt with a long black stripe extending from the collar down. He was also, for lack of a better term, much, much shorter than before. Before Garou could even question what the hell was going on, the upbeat voice of a delighted old man garnered his attention.

"Glad to see you're awake, Ben. We're almost to the campsite." the elder greeted happily. Garou's head shifted towards what seemed to be the driver's seat of a rundown RV. This stranger was a slightly heavyset man with short gray hair and focused black eyes that screamed experience in some unknown expertise. He wore a red polo shirt with Hawaiian flowers etched all around and dark blue pants, pressing down on the accelerator with brown boots as well.

"Who…" Garou was confused. What happened to him? All he could recall was his defeat under the hands of that damned Baldy after he had finally broken through his limits, fled from the scene after that boy screamed for him to run, and then… he fled to the mountains. He fell asleep in the woods.

Did something happen to him in his sleep? However, before he could ask, his stomach growled. Garou stopped moving as he hissed. He looked over his body, finding none of his wounds had followed him to this body. He was hungry… but why?

"Skipped breakfast again, doofus?" A snotty voice asked in the room... erm, vehicle. Garou slightly adjusted the position of his body to view the bored, unamused glare of a young girl with short orange hair. Her shirt was a soft, light blue shirt with dark blue on the sleeves. The likeness of a cat stood in the center around her chest. Her eyes were the same shade as Garou's current ones; both narrowed in an equal mix of unamused boredom.

"What?"

Trying to recall yesterday's activities, Garou remembered preying on a giant boar in the wilds, dining on its flesh, trained, and then he went to sleep beside the bones of his kill.

He did not know these people or how he got here, but what he did know for sure though was that he did not appreciate this girl's attitude one bit.

Now that Garou thought about it, he hadn't eaten anything after that battle. He lost quite a lot of blood and received innumerous injuries from both hero and monster alike. But that did not bother him before… and he just feasted yesterday. So why did he feel like he hadn't eaten for days?

"It must be this body." Garou murmured as his stomach continued growling.

"What'd you say?" The girl asked, quirking a brow.

"We're here, kids." The jolly old man said as the vehicle slowed to a halt, reaching their supposed destination. Outside the window, Garou saw an open clearing. A wooden table with a plank top sandwiched between two benches stood on the grass like an open eyesore to nature. Wait, were they…

"Come on, kids. Let's head outside as I prepare your supper." The old man said as the girl groaned in annoyance.

"Awwww. Hah, come on, dweeb. Let's just get this over with." The girl dropped down the couch, gesturing Garou to follow.

Garou had no obligation to listen to either of them, but after giving considerable thought into his unique dilemma for a few seconds, he decided to play along for now. Still, the girl was sassy and bossy. What was she, this Ben's girlfriend or something?

"Whatever, brat."

Either way, Garou shrugged and followed after her to his chagrin. He wondered what they were doing here in the first place.

* * *

It was already late twilight, the sun a dim orange, smothered by growing night and blinking stars. Tall pine trees surrounded the three, fencing them in. On the bench, Garou saw the old man brought a bowl of… were those worms? Why are they alive and wriggling in the blue bowl?

"Chow time," the man expressed happily, setting the eccentric dish on the wooden table. The girl did not hide her bewilderment and disgust in the slightest, staring at each worm as if they were the most disgusting things on the entire planet.

"What am I looking at?" Garou asked. When he heard his voice the fifth time, Garou smacked his lips from verbal distaste.

It sounded so… annoying. Why was it annoying? He was used to the voice of Tareo, but something about this voice did not sit right with him. Even for a boy, the voice sounded a bit too high-pitched. It was rare even for him to hate at first encounter.

"These are marinated mealworms. Hard to find them fresh in the states. You know, they're considered a delicacy in some countries?" The old man replied excitedly, gushing in sharing his trivia with them.

Garou's focus came to an abrupt halt at the mention of states. What were those? Last time he checked the world housed a supercontinent with cities listed A-Z. It was the first time he'd ever heard of this location or whatever it was. Where the hell was he?

"And totally gross in others?" The girl quipped as she watched one of the worms fall off the bowl and wriggled away.

Garou wanted to agree, but his stomach growled for sustenance. Raw fish was one thing, but raw insects?

"-screw it." Garou was too hungry to care. Taking a handful of worms from the bowl, Garou threw it into his mouth and chewed his first insect meal.

"Ewww! Ben?!" The girl shouted, gagging as her cheeks puffed with phantom vomit.

"Hoh! Ben, how is it? This is the stuff I used to eat during the Great Depression!"

Garou had conflicting thoughts on that. First, it was surprisingly delectable to his mouth despite the grotesque visage. The slime and slippery meat melted into his tongue with each bite, a balanced mix of sweet and bitter with a tinge of spices for flavor.

"...huh. Not bad." Accepting the food, Garou threw in more and more worms in his mouth, ignoring the retching sound from the girl athwart him.

"Just when I think you can't get any weirder, this happens!" The girl comically fumed, her skin starting to turn a sickly green in response.

"Hey, if it's food, it's food. If it's good food, you can't complain." Garou shrugged as he finished the bowl, leaving only a few survivors left to fend for themselves.

"If you're still hungry, I have some smoked sheep's tongue in the fridge," the old man offered politely, proud of the fact that his grandson shared his tastes. Licking his lips, Garou found his stomach still rumbling for more nourishment, the hunger arousing some concern from the former Hero Hunter. What was wrong with this body? Just how malnourished was it? This Ben treated it as if it was his garbage castle.

"Thanks. Bring it here…" Garou was about to call him 'old man,' but stopped himself. "Grandpa?" He had to force the words out a little. He needed to play the role for now until he could find a way back to his world, as shitty as it is. It was either go back a wanted man or live inside a body that wasn't his. He would choose the first without question. Garou had done some things, but stealing the bodies of children was crossing the line.

"Grandpa! Don't encourage him!" The girl whined in outrage, gesturing to the practically empty bowl of live worms as a sign that something seriously wrong. The old man just brushed off his granddaughter's worries, shrugging nonchalantly.

"He's a growing boy, Gwen. If Ben's hungry, he's hungry." The grandfather of two proclaimed matter-of-factly, walking back into the RV mid-sentence. Gwen attempted to protest further, but the old-timer was already gone before she could demur moreover. She slumped her shoulders in defeat and gave 'Ben' the stink eye.

"What? I'm hungry." Garou spoke, taking the opportunity to exploit his high-pitched voice to irk the girl called Gwen.

"This isn't like you. What are you planning?" Gwen inquired suspiciously, her eyes narrowed in puzzlement.

"Annoying you for fun." Garou picked one of the leftover worms and threw it to his mouth, chewing loudly in front of the girl with his mouth open, wanting her to see the chewed remains of the mealworm melting in his maw.

"Trust me; you've already been doing that, geekazoid. Are you sucking up to Grandpa or something?" Gwen scoffed inquisitively, rolling her eyes to exemplify her already common annoyance.

"Nope. I'm just hungry." Garou's stomach growled as if to agree with his mouth.

"Alright, Ben! Hope you made room for seconds," the old man beamed as he reappeared from within his primary source of transportation. Held firmly in both of his wrinkled hands was a plate filled to the brim with sizzling slabs of meat. They were almost gray, some resembling the tips of sausage links.

"Huh." Garou looked at the tongues. He never had any sheep tongues before now that he thought about it. He wondered how they would taste… no, taste no longer mattered. It just needed to be filling. His stomach roared for food at sight.

"Last chance, Gwen. There's enough for all three of us." Gwen's grandpa encouraged openly, holding up a fork with a slimy piece of tongue pierced into it.

"Um, couldn't we just have burgers instead?" Gwen weakly suggested with a forced smile. She was currently pinching her nose to mask the intense odor permeating from the pieces of sheep tongues.

"Nonsense, sweety! This summer's going to be an adventure for your taste buds." The Hawaiian shirted elder promised anticipatedly, ripping off a piece of the tongue with his teeth right afterward. Gwen shivered in absolute disgust, not even wanting to imagine the horrors her grandpa's cooking could bring to fruition.

Digging in, Garou threw in a tongue in his gullet. Biting into it, Garou found the meat somewhat tough, yet soft at the same time. It held as a robust beefy flavor that he could not describe, but he cared not. Upon swallowing, he licked his lips, feeling his stomach being sated.

"Give me your portion if you don't want it." Garou wryly demanded from his 'cousin.' Gwen, unable to endure any more of the mealtime massacre taking place, unceremoniously slammed her head on the table.

"Why me?" Gwen groaned to herself miserably while Garou took her portion as he and the old man ate to their heart's content as if nothing could go wrong.

* * *

After devouring the bowl of tongues, Garou could feel his stomach finally relieved from hunger. Now, the moon rose to give its pale, soothing light with the stars to the darkened world below. Garou already finished setting up the tent with high efficiency. He walked outside of the woods, away from the two as he reviewed the information he had confirmed so far.

First, whatever world Garou was in, it wasn't his own. He had never heard of states or other countries, only cities ranging from A to Z.

Second, his fear was half-realized. The body he now inhabited was weak. He couldn't muster the same power he had after his defeat, only some of it. If he had to estimate, he would be as strong as that golden monster he killed after his initial awakening. He was still unused to this body in the end, meaning Garou must train to the best of his ability.

Third, he must find a way to get out of this body. The first hurdle he must make however was to break the news to Gwen and Max. To Garou, they were strangers. He did not come to steal the life of another, despite knowing that returning home meant being always on the run from Heroes. Garou was many things, but a body stealer wasn't one of them.

For now, Garou must test the limits of this body. He looked at the tree before him, one far enough from their hearing range. Garou clenched his fists as his emerald green eyes sharpened twin glares. First, he must test his fists.

With a standard, straight punch, Garou bore through the bark, sending splinters and leftover sap flying from the force. His fist somewhat rattled from the effect, but the skin did not contuse. He grimaced, that shouldn't affect him that much. Garou looked at the hole through the tree, the edges clean like polished stone, finding much room for improvement to fill.

"Hnnn!" Pivoting around one foot, Garou twisted his entire body. Swinging his other foot in a reverse roundhouse kick, Garou cleaved through the same tree again, his ankle phasing through the integument as it slipped through water. This time, Garou used an improved version of the Whirlwind Iron Cutting Fist with the heel of his shoe.

The tree split, a diagonal mouth slowly yawning. The severed top slid down, falling from the bisected stump as it crashed in groans of creaking bark and snapped branches. Garou flexed his foot for a moment, curling his toes and rotating his wrists. He confirmed his gut feeling from this result.

This boy had never trained a day in his life. It took more mental effort than Garou thought to force the body to replicate his usual feats. He was sure that a few parts of his muscles felt sore from that one move, but he could adapt. He just needed to fine-tune Ben's weak body with some harsh training sessions. His power came not from the flesh, but the spirit, something he only discovered to his delight.

Garou exhaled, abandoning his worries and earthly ties in a single breath, his body now embracing an unearthly calm. He slowly raised his hands until both palms faced skyward, and then slowly guided them down with meticulous precision as his eyes traveled to his feet.

It was time to get to work. Garou's first steps should be rebuilding his foundations, something he learned from his time with the Old Geezer. At his current level, taking shortcuts would lead to disaster, especially for beginners. Garou needed to build himself back up from the ground up again.

* * *

After the boy abruptly headed into the forest, Gwen and her grandpa worked to set up camp for the night. However, in the process of building their tent, the old man grew worried about 'Ben's' prolonging absence. Either he was shirking his responsibilities to play his video games or shirking his duties and got lost in the woods in his attempt.

"I wonder what's keeping, Ben." Grandpa Max pondered in slight concern, setting down his stake and hammer for just a moment.

"Probably looking for more worms to eat." Gwen deadpanned in a mocking tone as she hammered in on one of the tent's corners. Max frowned at this comment, looking out into the presiding wilderness with furrowed gray eyebrows.

"I can take care of the rest, Gwen. Go check on your cousin." Max instructed in a no-nonsense attitude, walking back to the RV for more supplies. Gwen's face contorted into a look of quite noticeable reluctance towards this request.

"But-" Gwen's excuses were swiftly quieted by her grandpa's stern gaze, a look she has admittedly never seen before.

"No buts. Find him before he gets too far." Max advised in succession, getting back to work on the tent with no room for argument. Gwen huffed childishly and stomped away into the sea of pine trees as told.

"Stupid Ben. Why do I have to spend the whole summer with an obnoxious twirp like him? It's not fair!" Gwen ranted to herself angrily, thinking back to all of the plans she made before this "trip" was set up. She printed out a whole schedule for crying out loud! As she progressed more in-depth into the forest, Gwen was puzzled to see that there were significantly fewer trees than before.

"Huh? What happened here?" Gwen asked in sheer bewilderment, slowing the pace of her walk as she continued searching for Ben. Stumps and toppled bodies riddled her surroundings, some with splintered thorns while others were parted clean… like very clean. Looking closely at one of the stumps right next to her, Gwen found the cut was so smooth that it looked like something separated it by the atom.

Then, in the distance, the know-it-all redhead saw something she thought would never see in her entire 10-year-old life. At least, what Gwen hoped she wouldn't have to see.

In the clearing, instead of a snobbish boy goofing off in the middle of nowhere, she saw devastation carved into the grass and trees - all surrounding a boy performing push-ups, with his legs off the ground and folded midair as sweat glistened from his naked chest. Why was he doing… exercises with his shirt off? No, the fact that her cousin was exercising did more than enough to astonish her, the same boy that would lounge around all day either watching TV or playing video games.

"B-ben?" Gwen whispered in disbelief, practically rubbing her eyelids to make sure this wasn't some bizarre dream.

"Fuu, one hundred… one hundred one, fuu…" 'Ben' did not notice her, pushing his full bodily weight up and down with his arm muscles alone. He was too ingrained in his activities at first glance. The amount of effort and dedication he poured into his exercise made Gwen question the identity of her cousin. She was sure that the scrawny boy wasn't even fit enough to make it past ten push-ups without dropping dead.

"Ben! W-what are you doing?" Gwen hesitantly questioned with a raised eyebrow. She desperately tried to shield her eyes from Ben's bare body, an image she would have to wash out with bleach sometime soon.

Her cousin stopped but did not drop. He craned his head while still upside down, his eyes making contact with hers. She flinched when their gazes met. Ben's eyes held a piercing sharpness she had never witnessed before in her short years of life.

"...training?" He replied before resuming his unique push-ups. As far as Gwen knew, hand-stand push-ups were only reserved for hardcore athletes, for dedicated professionals.

"Training? For what? Pressing down on your controller faster?" Gwen quipped obnoxiously, putting as much effort as she could into not freaking out right then and there.

"Hm? No, for myself. You can say I am tired of this weak body." He shook his head as he huffed. To Gwen, this little session of intense exercising was the last straw.

"Ok, who are you, and what have you done with my cousin?" Gwen snapped in confusion, not intending for her question to have more truth than once thought.

"Heh. Who knows?" He scoffed. "I want to know that for myself."

"Wait… what did you just say?" Gwen responded offhandedly, losing her previous train of thought. Suddenly, before her cousin could repeat what he just revealed, a fiery red mass streaked across the night sky, leaving orange contrails of radiant flame, and crashed near their proximity with an explosive landing

"GYAHHH!" Gwen wailed in fright as she was knocked off balance by the meteorite's massive explosion. She slammed onto the ground butt-first, her white pants covered in dirt and leftover shrapnel. 'Ben,' in contrast, shielded his eyes to protect himself from the blinding light. His response was calmer than that of Gwen's, but not enough to suppress the mien of surprise leaking from his features. Not even the man inside the boy was unfazed by the sudden arrival of a meteor from the starlit heavens.

This time, her cousin stopped, his face a rictus as he stared at the steaming crater within walking distance. Dropping down to his feet, he stared at the hole for a moment as a shard of scrap entered his vision. Before it struck him between the eyes, 'Ben' caught it between two fingers from his left hand.

"Huh. I still got it." Muttering, he tossed the fragment aside, unfazed by death's surprise attempt to take his life.

Gwen did not catch him in the act, however, still occupied with landing. Gwen hissed in temporary soreness before inspecting the crater alongside her cousin.

"Ow. W-was that a shooting star?" Inside of the impression was a spherical, shell-like device, its hull dark gray.

For closer inspection, 'Ben' and Gwen both slid down the slopes of the concave crevice, the first behind the latter, curious to find what treasure the stars dropped to the little world below. Strangely, once Gwen walked toward the otherworldly container, its top cover retracted open to reveal a much smaller object that glowed bright green.

"A watch?" Gwen observed curiously. It was a black wristband with four gray cords coiling around each of its four corners. In the center was a circular dial with the likeness of a green hourglass imprinted on it, small orbs of the same color surrounding the peculiar symbol in all four cardinal directions.

Her cousin stood beside her. Squinting his eyes, he observed it to the smallest detail. Then he remembered that one incident in A-City which resulted in its destruction and reconstruction.

* * *

"Is this thing alien?" Garou asked, unsure how to word his opinions in a better light.

"Aliens? Really, Ben? There has to be a better explanation for this." Gwen proclaimed doubtfully.

She seemed as the type of girl that would disprove the notion of the unknown possibilities. If only she knew the state that her cousin was.

"Hey, life finds a way. I've seen plenty of things not to be surprised anymore."

"Like from your video games, dweeb? Please, this is real life. There's no way… could it?"

As they observed, something happened. The watch practically became gelatinous in shape, leaping out of its container and latching onto the nearest person. That person was Gwen.

"Ahhhh! Get it off! Get it off!" Gwen squealed in reactionary fear, shaking her wrist around to free it from the watch's firm grasp. She tried everything from pulling on it to pushing down on her sleeve, but to no avail. The unusual object would not release the poor girl.

The thing was on her wrist now, slapped onto her skin like black glue. It was so sudden and unexpected, not even Garou could capture the device. His body's dynamic vision and reflexes were poorer than he liked. Now, only two options were left. Should he or should he not cut her arm off?

"Don't just stand there, Ben! Help me! It won't come off!" Gwen pleaded desperately, panic thrashing her composure as she tried to fling the contraption off.

In response, the world slowed around Garou, and all motion slowed to stillness. It was a World that Garou was used to when he kicked into battle mode, his sense of time drawing its blade at danger and foe.

Inspecting the device in the world of hyperspeed, he noticed that it wasn't doing anything, remaining inanimate like a normal watch. Garou wondered if it was living or machine for a moment since it did behave like a slime when it latched onto Gwen. Now it seemed inanimate, acting like an actual watch.

"Calm down. It's not doing anything."

'Yet.' Of the many things Garou encountered, this was the strangest so far. Facing a fallen satellite was a once in a lifetime chance, although the giant meteor debacle in Z City counted more like an unwanted disaster.

"Ahhhhhhhhh… ahhh…" Slowly peeking through her closed eyes, Gwen slowly settled her nerves as she waited for the watch to act up. The watch just sat on her wrist as if it were waiting for her to touch it.

She looked at the thing on her wrist with caution. Wanting to find out what this thing was capable of, Gwen played around with the dial at its center.

"Uhhh…" Garou wanted to call out, but he wasn't sure if he should. Right now, he was just a bystander in a bizarre predicament that lay beyond his comprehension which somehow devolved into two bizarre predicaments. Being stuck in the body of the child was enough for the man inside, dealing with an alien watch was crossing the line.

Once she gently adjusted the circular symbol's position, it popped upward to reveal a grid of green circuitry. To her amazement, the hourglass then shifted appearance into that of a small rhombus and revealed a shadowed, humanoid silhouette.

"Woah. Wonder what this could be…" Gwen stated ponderously, squinting her eyelids as she hovered a finger over the said button.

"Are you sure you want to touch it?" Garou asked when he saw the dial protrude.

"...should I?" Gwen asked, now unsure.

"It looks like a machine but…" Garou squinted his eyes. "What are the odds of the watch killing you if pressed it?"

The advanced device made Garou recall Demon Cyborg. In terms of utility, the odds of the watch killing Gwen was very low unless she has the luck of a hard-stuck, Wolf-Level monster. Anyone that would make a defective device in the stars above to hand it over to a girl and watch her die must be insane.

"I guess that's a good point," Gwen admitted in spite of the shaky relationship they shared. She took one last look at the watch's protruded extension before resorting to a final decision.

"Here goes nothing." Gwen gulped nervously, tightly shutting her eyes as she slammed the button downward. In response, an intense flash of green light engulfed Gwen's entire body.

Superheated red rocks emitted from within the watch's core and covered the girl's white skin from head to toe. What used to be her blue shirt was now red magma overflowing with cracks of yellow fire and lava, both hands and feet undergoing similar changes. On top of being much taller than before, Gwen's face was now a dark red with pupilless ovals residing where her eyes used to be. It was also surrounded by yellow and orange flames crackling to life with vibrant power.

Gwen was expectantly flabbergasted by this instantaneous transformation, "Whoa! I'm on fire!"

Her voice was deeper, but it still retained its feminine roots. Her tone survived the transformation, keeping vestiges of her former identity.

"I'm on-"

When he saw her transformation, Garou initially thought she had become a monster. Garou's first instinct was to aim for her neck as he vanished into a blur, one hand ready to part the head from the shoulder.

"-fi… re?"

The transformed Gwen stopped in her tracks when she immediate saw her cousin's fingers so close to her eyes, almost as if ready to tear them out. His hand was on her shoulder, grabbing it to support himself while he was unfazed by the smoldering heat.

"Don't. Move." Garou warned, his child-like voice warped with a foreboding tone.

"...uhhh…" An ominous chill pierced Gwen through the flames with biting cold. It was a natural response since it was her first encounter with murderous intent.

"Quick question. Do you feel anything wrong with yourself? Any lack of restraint?" Garou asked.

He must be sure of her sanity due to his experience in dealing with monsters. They all had an instinctive urge, the desire to destroy, the drive to kill, the hunger for human flesh, or something worse. All in all, their detrimental drives were diverse. Thus, Garou must confirm whether or not she was still herself on the inside.

"U-um, yeah. I'm hot, I guess, but it's not affecting me for some reason." Gwen stammered in minor discomfort, still adjusting to the drastically different proportions of her new body. It wasn't uncomfortable but always felt a bit off in comparison to her standard form.

"...I see." Garou dropped down from her, landing softly on the dirt.

"So you're not a monster… strange. Do you feel any sudden impulsive urges?" Garou asked just in case. While he was stoic on the outside, he was extremely confused on the inside. What the hell was that watch and why did it change Gwen into this thing?

"Urges? Not really. Aside from this tingling sensation radiating from my hands and feet, I'm practically normal… or whatever you could consider this." Gwen explained off the top of her head, gesturing to the white hourglass embedded in this supposed creature's chest.

Staring at the dial on her chest, Garou pursed his lips. So the watch didn't change her into a monster… maybe another creature? The real question was for what purpose? That and how the hell it could do that in the first place.

Either way, it reminded him of his monster transformation… or costume. He wasn't a true monster like the baldy said in the end.

"So what can you do?" He had a hunch he had to confirm, which was the presence of newfound abilities within Gwen.

"Hmmm let's see…" Gwen mused thoughtfully, looking at her two molten appendages. When she raised up one of her hands, a small ember of concentrated fire sprouted to life toot sweet. From what she could gather, it was about the size of a normal baseball.

'Pyrokinesis?' The fire reminded him of that giant monster dog he encountered in the Monster Association Base, only this one was way smaller. It probably couldn't nuke the area like that thing could.

"Okay, now this is pretty cool!" Gwen amusedly gushed over her new abilities, tossing the fireball up and down without any worry of being harmed. She then looked up at the night sky for a second as a thought passed through her, leaving an enticing idea for her to pick up.

"Hmmm…" Garou tapped his chin in thought. "So the watch is meant to change you into… something else. For new abilities?" Garou ruminated.

It was definitely like the monster transformation phenomena back home.

"Seems like it. Watch this, Ben." Gwen mischievously remarked as she expanded the size of her flame using both hands. She then outstretched both of her arms and generated a massive blast of orange-yellow combustion that accelerated in speed as it streaked across the clouds. Upon reaching its zenith, it exploded into a display of fireworks before fading to dying cinders.

"How was that?" Gwen cockily asked, starting to get a bit too full of herself in more ways than one.

"I admit. I did not expect that." Garou was surprised, but he was not impressed. In fact, Garou had no idea what to expect. This reality was strange. Too strange even for him, and he came from a world where people could turn into monsters and housed a baldy that could toss the crust of the Earth into the stratosphere.

But another question passed his thought when concerning transformations…

"It's good that you can turn into this, but can you even change back?" Could she return to being human? His question doused Gwen's peaking excitement, dragging her to the reality at hand.

"Oh, kind of forgot about that." Gwen sheepishly muttered as her dormant panic started to kick in again. Most of her thoughts were occupied on their waiting grandpa and what he would think of this mess which allowed her panic to boil.

"What are we going to do?! Grandpa can't see me like this! He'll freak out!" Gwen groaned self-consciously clutching her blazing head.

Garou raised an eyebrow, "And you think hiding it from him forever will work? He'll find out eventually, you know?" He spoke from his own experience. Now he had room to explain his circumstances with her joining the insanity.

"I get that, but we're in a forest. How will we ever get back to the campsite without me accidentally burning the forest down?" Gwen objected dishearteningly, the flames around her head dimming as if reflecting her mood.

That was her worry? The sight of the brat blundering her way through the forest with meticulous care did tickle his fancy, but now wasn't the time for teasing. Yet.

"You worry about the forest more than yourself? Really?" Garou reminded her of her more serious predicament.

"There are trees everywhere, Ben! We're not the only ones in these woods, you know?"

Garou scoffed. Even if there was a forest fire, he could extinguish them at his current level.

"Actually, we are if you don't count the old man." Garou checked his surroundings before he started training.

"That's our grandpa, dweeb, but whatever. If there really is no one else here, then we might as well head back. We have to be careful though," Gwen advised cautiously.

Garou could sympathize. Whether monsters exist here or not, any human that catch the sight of a walking bonfire would immediately call for a witch hunt, assuming that heroes did exist in this world to hunt her down. Lost in thought, Garou turned his head towards the starry skies in rumination.

Why was he here in the first place? Who sent the device here in the first place? A plethora of questions lay in wait, but as each second passed, they encountered more waiting for him in his journey.

"By the way, why didn't the fire hurt you when you touched me earlier?"

A good question, indeed. Garou wanted to know how the body of an untrained boy could withstand the flames when he took the wheels. There was only one answer he had to her question.

"Because I have survived worse."

The Dog had more firepower than she had. His endurance and resistances did carry over to this body.

"Psh. Yeah right. You couldn't even survive J.T. and Cash at your old school." Gwen lightly mocked the Garou's supposed scrawniness.

He had no idea who they were, but they sound annoying and disappointing. The mention of a school brought bitter memories to Garou, the unfortunate reminder of the blight called Tacchan.

"Whatever. Let's go before someone sees you and call for the military."

Garou set off before Gwen could reply. She looked at the shrinking back of her 'cousin,' harrumphing as she decided to follow him back to the campsite, agreeing with his statement to avoid unwanted attention.

* * *

"So, you're saying this watch just jumped up and clamped onto your wrist?" Grandpa Max reiterated calmly, making sure he got the gist of Gwen's delineation.

When the two returned, Max was shocked to see Gwen's state. Garou was surprised that the old man didn't lose his composure at sight. He was sure that even in his world that discovering one's grandchildren had transformed into a monster would bring great sorrow and pain.

Was the old man familiar with this? Max's reaction was too trained, calm. From body language alone, Garou could tell, but it was still conjecture. He just needed proof. Now, they sat around a campfire as Gwen narrated the series of events that lead to her situation.

"It was an accident. The thing had a mind of its own somehow. Then, it transformed me into this… fire monster!" Gwen flailed her large, flaming hands, dramatically emphasizing the severity of her dilemma.

"Did you forget that you turned it on yourself?" Garou reminded while roasting his marshmallow on a stick… using Gwen's body as the fire. Gwen wasn't amused by the sight of the stick so close to her burning head or her 'cousin's' mocking smile.

"Quit it! There's a fire right over there!" Gwen snapped irritably, smacking away his stick and gesturing to the campfire equidistant from them in the center.

"Hey, I'm testing your body temperature. Did you even think about which parts of you are hot and which aren't?" Garou pointed out.

The log she was sitting on did not combust despite her blatantly high body temperature. The Former Hero Hunter was curious if she could control the temperature over specific areas of her body, like cooling her rear while the rest of her burned hot, or not. Although he could've asked her, he would instead test his conjecture with a marshmallow since he found it more amusing. Curiously, the marshmallow only reacted around her armpits, head, and neck, but everywhere else it did not warm.

After she smacked his stick away, Garou frowned that he lost his stick as his sweet tooth craved that marshmallow… Garou realized that he had a sweet tooth. Now that he thought about it, Garou realized that he did have some compulsive urges gestating from time to time, like the desire to tease the monsterized girl next to him. He wondered if it was due to him regressing to the age of ten… he was now a little worried for his mental development.

"No. All I've been thinking about is how the heck I'm going to practice karate when I'm stuck like this for the rest of my life!" Gwen sighed heavily, imagining how her parents would feel about having a walking lava lamp for a daughter.

"You didn't transform into a monster, Gwen. You're an alien." Max corrected Gwen knowledgeably, his tired eyes accentuated by the firelight nearby.

Just when he was about to grab another marshmallow, Garou picked up his proof. His eyes instantly darted to Max, firing rays of suspicion at the old man, "How'd you know she's an alien?"

Garou watched as Max flustered, stammering. He immediately broke eye contact, his lips flagging up and down in a panic. It was more than enough proof for Garou to know that he was hiding something more significant than his appearance suggested.

"Uh, I mean, look at her. What else could she be?" Max awkwardly caught himself, now trying to cover his slip-up.

"A possible man-eating monster." Garou spoke from experience as he stabbed his s'mores into his stick. "Besides, there's no point in keeping secrets from your family. They will find out eventually." Garou hovered his treat over the fire, watching the white puffy tart melt under the heat as he gazed into the flickering flames.

Garou's answer left Grandpa Max stunned. Judging by his reaction, Garou probably spoke out of character. He couldn't blame him as he had no idea how even to play the role of an immature brat. Before Max could respond to Garou, the sound of a high-pitched beeping rang through both his and Garou's eardrums.

Looking at the source, Gwen saw that her dial was blinking red as if in a warning. The next second, a crimson flash of light engulfed her, but when it faded, Gwen returned to her human form, back to normal once more.

"Wow. I'm me again!" Gwen cheered in positive surprise, punching a fist in the air with closed eyes. She then gazed at the deactivated watch, noting that its green buttons and hourglass were now red.

Garou did expect something like this. His guess about the watch was correct. The watch was a weapon, and whoever created it had put a lot of thought into its design and functionality. But another question arose. Why did it land near them?

Garou looked at Max with suspicion. From his tone, the man must have experience in dealing with the extraterrestrial. What connections did he have to garner such attention from those that live in the stars?

Whatever the answer was, he was sure he would find out sooner or later. As for his s'mores, it was ready, slightly black here and there. Retrieving it from the flames, he immediately tossed it into his mouth, chewing the gooey sweetness unfazed by the heat.

"Don't fool around with it anymore, Gwen. I'll go check out the crash site to find out what exactly we're dealing with here. You two stay here while I'm gone." Max ordered his granddaughter sternly as he turned on a flashlight, illuminate the darkness with his spotlight, and departed.

Chewing his marshmallow, Garou watched him leave, his eyes following Max with a predator's gaze. Max stopped his track for a moment as if he had felt the intense stare burning his back for a moment. Garou was curious to see who the old man was, but for now, he must turn his attention to Gwen as she returned to her seat around the campfire.

"What's wrong?" Gwen queried ponderously, diverting her attention away from the strange watch for just a short while.

"It would seem I'm not the only one with secrets." Swallowing, Garou replied as he took out another white piece from the bag, hungry for more.

"You mean, grandpa? Sure, he's a little eccentric, but I don't think he's ever been the type to lie before. At least, that's what my dad remembered." Gwen recalled from memory, taking time to roast her own marshmallow for good measure.

"You mean the type that lies without good reason." Hunching forward, Garou roasted another marshmallow above the fire. "Whether he would tell us or not is up to him. Besides…" He looked up from the flames, focusing into Gwen's green eyes, "I believe you have questions reserved for me before all of this craziness happened."

Gwen did recall 'Ben's' unusual desire to do high-level push-ups… and somehow with inexplicable ease. She was aware of her cousin's lack of athleticism.

"Well, I don't know where to start. Maybe about that weird 'exercising' in the forest." Gwen suggested, making air-quotes with her fingers due to how rigorous and intense it was at first glance.

Garou scoffed at that part.

"What? Is it so wrong wanting to get into shape? Moving this body is becoming a tiresome chore." Garou would curse Ben for his bad habits if he could. His body was way too malnourished for his liking. At best, he was as strong as that golden Teletubby he slaughtered.

"That's exactly my point! You never trained or did anything physically active aside from maybe baseball before today. You're a lazy slob most of the time!" Gwen truthfully exclaimed.

"So he is a couch potato? That is quite disappointing." He shook his head as he threw his second marshmallow into his mouth.

"What do you mean 'he'? You're him! You are Benjamin Kirby Tennyson… right?" Gwen asked weakly, her hopes starting to die down little by little.

His eyes reflecting the licking fire between them, Garou paused, swallowing his meal before answering, "So that is his full name… Kirby, huh? Usually, I have only one."

Gwen started to put two and two together when he referred 'himself' in the third person. The answer that had arrived did not soothe her growing fears as it sprouted after taking root.

"So, let me get this straight. You're telling me that you're not my cousin, as in a completely different person altogether?!" Gwen yelled in wide-eyed shock, her marshmallow falling out of her hand as it began to tremble.

Garou shared her disbelief, unable to believe that he was even here talking with her about this.

"Truthfully… Yes. But it isn't as you think. I just woke up inside this body some time ago. If you want to know how I got into Ben, then I don't know. I was to be in the mountains, sleeping next to the campfire after dinner." Wanting more, Garou took out another marshmallow to roast. He had acquired a sweet tooth. Probably Ben's sweet tooth. It didn't matter since he liked the taste of marshmallows.

"W-who are you, then?" Gwen whispered almost regrettably, an overwhelming feeling of sadness starting to cloud her subconscious mind. Sure, Ben and Gwen didn't get along all that well, but it was still terrible to think that he was completely gone for good.

Garou looked at her eyes, his lips a straight line, unable to find the right tone to express his emotions. "My real name is Garou. As you can see, I am stuck in the body of your cousin, and I don't know how to get out."

"How does that work then? Is Ben still in there?" Gwen wondered if some parts of Ben survived in there.

"I don't know." Garou tosses the third into his mouth. "Believe me. I'm just as confused as you are. I did not expect to be here, honestly."

If suddenly encountering a meteor from the heavens wasn't enough, Gwen had to find that a stranger possessed her cousin, and he did not even know how he did it or why he was here.

"This night just keeps getting crazier by the second. What am I going to tell ou-I-I mean my grandpa?" Gwen corrected herself offhandedly, still trying to wrap her head around the fact that Garou was Ben and not her cousin at the same time.

"Don't know. But from what I could gather, he has connections to the extraterrestrial. He might know a way to return us to normal; assuming that there is a case like mine in this world." Garou hoped so. Considering the amount of highly improbable events happening on the same day, it was possible.

"Oh, so that's why he knew Heatblast was an alien. I knew there was something off about that, but I couldn't tell for certain," Gwen muttered in understanding.

"Heatblast?" Garou raises an eyebrow at that word.

"It's the new name for my transformation. I thought of it when I shot that fireblast into the sky. Fitting, right?" Gwen proudly expressed, fidgeting with her blue hair-clip in a bit of embarrassment.

The name reminded Garou of the heroes and monsters back home, though this was his first time seeing someone able to transform back and fro from human to alien without consequence.

"Hah. What? You plan to be a hero?" Garou asked coyly. If she were to be a hero back home, Garou might've added her to his list of potential hunting targets.

"That doesn't sound like a bad idea, actually. Maybe I could use these 'alien' powers to help people!" Gwen wondered excitedly, her faux maturity starting to wither away.

Her words made Garou break down into a stifled snicker.

"What's so funny about that?" Gwen pouted at the minor offense, placing both hands on her small hips.

"Pffft. No, no. I mean…" Garou looked up at her, his grin tinted under the flame's shadow. "If I entered this body somewhat earlier, I might've decided to hunt you down for sport."

Gwen's eyes slightly widened at this response, feeling a bit unnerved by Garou's sinister smirk.

"Hunt?"

"Before I came here, I was a Hero Hunter. _The_ Hero Hunter at the time at the height of my power." Garou's peered back into the flames, his gaze wandering further than the flickering fires before him and into the zenith of the climax at Z-City.

"Wait, you're not evil or anything, right?" Gwen gulped unsurely, an aching sense of dread starting to creep in. Her fingers instinctively hovered over the watch's dial, even though it was still charging at the moment.

Garou did not answer. Was he evil? Reviewing his choices in life, from dropping out of school to beating up all of the Geezer's disciples, then to the climax of his career as the Symbol of Fear…

"... no." He shook his head, finding himself not even remotely close to the term, "I'm more lost than anything else at the moment."

Gwen removed her hand from the watch and breathed out a sigh of relief. She then peered back at Garou in a more sympathetic light.

"Well, let's wait until grandpa gets back. Maybe he could help you… and Ben." Gwen advised, remembering to keep Ben in her thoughts for the time being.

"Hmm." Garou sighed as he placed down his stick, no longer hungering for more s'mores. "Now that we're talking let me reintroduce myself. My name is Garou. I was a martial artist born in City Z, and was once known as the Hero Hunter and the Human Monster." Garou gestured to Gwen for hers with a wave of his hand.

"Erm, ok. I'm Gwen Tennyson, and I come from a city called Bellwood in the United States. Before the summer, I attended a prestigious girl's academy and also martial-art savvy as well. Probably not as much as you, but still a lot."

The word 'martial arts' tickled his ear.

"Can you defeat a giant dog that can breathe fireballs with your bare hands?" Garou asked, his lips curling into a teasing smirk, knowing that she could become dog food if she encountered Rover.

"Did you just make that up?" Gwen asked with an unamused frown.

"No. I actually fought one. It was a beast, all right. It's fire breath nuked the underground tunnels into a wasteland." Garou was still irked by its durability when he fought it. One part of him wanted a rematch, to put the dog in its place.

Gwen stared at him with her mind caught in a lag before she shook her head. She could not imagine what a giant, firebreathing dog looked like, nor did she want to face one unarmed.

"Moving on. What's this City Z like? Does it look anything like this?" Gwen questioned with interest, placing a marshmallow in her mouth.

"Well…" Garou tapped his cheek in thought. "Yeah. There is only one country, too. We have modern vehicles like the heap of junk over there." Garou pointed his thumb at the Rust Bucket.

"One country? Nothing else?"

"There is only one continent. Well, a supercontinent. So yeah, nothing else."

"Huh, that's strange. Here, we have seven continents that used to be one called Pangaea. But, that was millions of years ago."

Garou hummed at Gwen's trivia. He now wanted to confirm another matter since this world held many similarities from his own.

"Hmm. One question. Do you have monsters here?" Garou wanted to confirm the existence or possibility of monsters.

"None that actually exist anyway We have legends and mythologies that talk of them though. Like dragons, vampires, werewolves, etcetera." Gwen listed off the top of her head with her fingers.

So they were like myths?

"Ah… I'm not so sure about them anymore." Garou's eyes shifted to the watch on her wrist. "The old man has experience in dealing with Aliens. Was he military by any chance?"

"I don't think so. My dad and uncle never talked that much about it if he did. There weren't any pictures of him in uniform either."

Meaning the old man did not want to worry his children, Garou surmised.

"Hmm. Then I think I can see why he wants to keep them secret." Garou nodded in thought as an awkward silence dawned before them.

"Wha-" Gwen was interrupted by the sound of footsteps approaching them. The source was Max, recently back from his thorough inspection of the crash site.

"You kids, alright?" Max asked in a calm tone, turning off his flashlight and taking a seat once more.

"We're just talking…" Garou looked back at the watch. The thing could transform the wearer into an alien while preserving her primary race. If she wanted to become a hero as she wished to, she could do so with ease… but should she?

Rumination hovered his thoughts. The baldy broke his spirit, verbally as well as psychologically. What should he do in the meantime? He was no longer on the run, free from pursuit, so…

"Did the watch do anything else, Gwen?" Max said as his black pupils darted towards the alien device. Said girl looked down at her wrist, surprised to see that the watch was green once again.

"Nothing unusual. I guess it just needed a moment to recharge." Gwen shrugged carelessly, deciding on whether or not she should toy with the dial a bit more.

So the watch had a time limit. The watch was important. Garou may have dropped out of school, but he wasn't stupid. Many would desire such a device in their possessions, but what was its purpose for its function?

"Do you remember how long the transformation lasted?" Max pried both kids, looking from left to right.

Garou's sense of time was haggard at the moment, so he could not be sure, but he counted to an extent when he learned that she wasn't a monster.

"Maybe ten minutes. Probably more."

"Hmmm, ten. Gwen, try using the watch again. Don't push the button this time." Max ordered. Garou threw his focus to Max, shifting his eyes to him. Did he know something about the device?

"Ok, I'll try." Gwen twisted the hourglass symbol in an attempt to activate it a second time. However, this time, it wouldn't budge.

"Come on. It worked before!" Gwen grumbled in annoyance. After pressing down on a few of the watch's buttons, she miraculously proved successful after the tenth attempt.

"There we go!" Gwen beamed happily. She then began twisting the dial away from Heatblast's silhouette to reveal a wide array of highly distinct creatures. From an oversized dragonfly to a Velociraptor with wheels for feet, the watch's collection of forms added up to a whopping ten. Since each one had differing physiologies and powers, there was no telling how dangerous this watch could become in the wrong hands.

While Gwen took her time deciphering her watch, Garou had made up his mind. He needed to test his body in combat, his durability, and adaptability. His range of vision was different, but it was adjusting. His hearing wasn't as sharp as before, but fine-tuning them was manageable.

"Hey, Gwen," Garou asked, rolling his shoulders to let the blood flow. "Ever want to know how I was called the Hero Hunter?"

"Hero Hunter? Is that from some video games you've played?" Max asked him with a raised eyebrow.

"Uh, I guess?" Gwen asked distractedly, knowing what Garou was mentioning, but not entirely sure if she wanted to find out.

Garou smirked as he looked around, wanting to find something to demonstrate his abilities. He looked at the log behind his ankles, finding it suitable for now.

Without warning, Garou back-kicked the log up, knocking it up to his hand. Catching it, Garou held it in a vice-grip, fingers crunching through the wood as it cracked the air. Before either of the Tennysons could react, he threw it overhead Gwen, parting air and friction as it crashed into a tree with an explosive impact that rattled the air and their ears.

Gwen and Max's mouths practically dropped to the floor in response to this spectacle. Due to surge of wind produced from Garou's throw disheveling her hair, Gwen slowly fastened back her orange hair while Max stood motionless in place. He tightly clutched his chest, making sure he didn't have a heart attack after witnessing what his 'grandson' just did.

"W-who are you?" Max stammered in disbelief, shakily pointing his finger at the highly pleased 'Ben.' At this moment, he knew for a fact that the… thing standing before him was not who he thought it was.

Garou snickered as he believed introductions are in order again.

"Please, let me introduce myself." He looked to his 'grandpa,' catharsis sinking in as he finally threw away his facade.

"I am Garou."

* * *

**Surprise. I know, I know. It isn't something you might expect, but meh. The idea is from someone else and I felt as if I should try it out. Found a good compatible co-writer to help. He is the maestro of writing Ben 10 characters, so give kudos to him. Let me know what you think. We have a loooot more chapters lying in wait for editing too.**


	2. Chapter 2: The Beginning of the Monomyth

**For those who don't know, check my other Garou fic. For those from the other Garou fic, I have your feed, you piranhas. Thank the co-writer, Doodleboy565, for this miracle lol. **

* * *

Within the glade under a full moon night, a pale green crystal structure stood on two legs. Its figure was slim, but their epidermis gleamed under the starlight, rippling with condensed strength. From neck to feet, a sleeveless skintight suit enwrapped her being - blue dominating her right while white her left, the former taking more space in her front as it infringed the circular dial embedded in her heart.

The back of its head was sharp, like the end of a thick spear. Its eyes were topaz yellow, pupilless, and it stared at the little boy with brown hair across it in narrowed slits. The being was Gwen Tennyson in another alien form, a crystalline warrior armored from the skin to bone.

"You sure you want to do this, Be-Garou? Last chance to back out before I give you butt whooping." Gwen's tone was more amazonian, deep, and baritone. Her alien form deepened her voice, making nearly unrecognizable to any stranger unaffiliated with her.

"I'll have you know," 'Ben' tapped his shoe on the dirt before he entered his stance. Fingers rent into gnarled claws as if ready to tear apart flesh, his left arm straightened forward with the other leaning over it, and his posture squatted slightly as his toes dug into the dirt and lifting the sole of his heel, "I've once shredded a tank single-handedly, and he was strong. Also, crystals break more easily than flesh."

Max stood on the sidelines, his eyes scrunched with compounded worry after what he learned about Ben's… no, Garou's situation. It was too much to take in, and that did not include that Garou was sparring with Gwen, the latter having no experience in combat.

"Well, diamonds can be pretty durable. Especially when you're dealing with the likes of Zirconia!" Gwen remarked competitively, her large emerald hands shifting into a pair of razor-sharp blades.

Garou twisted Ben's lips into a vicious grin. It had been a while since he felt excited, not because of overcoming a difficult obstacle, but from his curiosity in testing himself and his new… friend? He wasn't sure. As far as he knew, he was stuck with them, but they were good people.

"Hah! I could use the pocket change after I strip you for parts," Garou taunted, his words like nails striking Gwen's diamond skin.

"Oh, it's on, 'Hero Hunter.'" Dissed, Gwen decided not to hold back. Garou had proven himself strong enough to take a beating, anyways.

"Grah!" Gwen let out a battle cry, charging at Garou with the force of a stampeding elephant. She threw her blade at Garou, channeling all her might into her momentum.

But her response was a blur in her vision before she felt twelve concurrent impacts rattling her crystal shell as her world tilted out of control, the sky replacing the horizontal earth.

"Eh?" Gwen uttered as she saw the world flip over. To Max, he just saw Gwen suddenly launched into a back-flip the moment Garou blinked the distance.

Her bulky body landed on the dirt, a loud thud splashing dust and dirt as she stared up at the moonlit night, confused. She didn't even know what Garou did to her. As she stared at the sky, Garou walked into her vision, looking down on her with a damnable smirk.

"Like I said. I know how to shred tanks." Garou reminded as his fists radiated steam.

Hearing his cocky smarm irritated the smarter Tennyson, forcing her to pull herself up to make the Hero Hunter eat his words.

"That was a lucky shot. Time for Round-" The sound of constant beeping prevented Gwen from finishing that sentence. "Oh, man…" Gwen facepalmed, while a flash of red transformed her back to normal. She crossed her arms and pouted like a brat per her age.

As she pouted, Garou looked at his small hands. He could still feel them shaking from the impact. From this, he knew that he still had a long journey ahead of him before he could regain and then surpass his former glory.

"Careful with my grandson's body, Garou. I don't want you to cripple him after all of this," Max harshly critiqued in a warning.

"Speak for yourself. I am surprised that this slug can even withstand this much in the first place." Garou wondered if his healing factor also followed him. His high-speed recovery ability from eating as well.

"So, grandpa. You said you were going to tell us something?" Gwen recalled, brushing some excess dirt off of her pants and shirt. Max grimaced and motioned for them to sit down.

However, Garou's ears picked up something in the air. He looked up, hearing an incessant hum thrumming. He could not determine a viable approximation, but it was approaching fast.

"Yeah… maybe-" All of a sudden, a red laser beam rocketed towards the ground, producing a massive explosion that knocked Max and Gwen off of their feet. From within the forest, two UFO-like organisms hovered into view. They were orange and black, having four metallic pincers that each moved around in different directions. With his sharp eyes, Garou traced the trajectory of their consecutive attacks and determined their angling their aim towards Gwen.

"Gwen! Garou! Get bac-" Max shouted, though a sharp gust of whistling wind rustled the air.

Toot sweet, the two machines fell out of the sky, each carved into three pieces as they crashed into the floor.

"Huh?"

When they looked at the source, they saw Garou in a lowered posture with his hands on the floor. Smoke steamed from his fingers, giving them a good idea of what happened.

"Garou, did you just…" Gwen's eyes glued to the dismantled machines littered on the floor, each one losing power simultaneously.

Garou shook his hands a little, flexing his fingers as he gazed at his fresh kills. "Yeah… like I said, I once hunted heroes before. And I've killed monsters."

Gwen nodded at this before walking up to get a closer look at the eviscerated robots.

"What were those things?" Gwen whispered with sudden unease.

Garou had no idea. He had only fought a cyborg before, not machines.

"No idea. Should've expected things to go south when you got that watch, though." Their arrival was too coincidental for them to be unrelated to the watch on Gwen's wrist.

"There can be more of them coming for us. We need to get out of here now," Max urged as he gestured them to follow him.

Max seemed too relaxed for Garou's liking. The way he looked at the robots only cemented Garou's suspicion. For now, he decided to follow the old man back to their vehicle.

'This day just keeps getting stranger and stranger.'

Garou had no idea that this was just the beginning of a long-running chain.

* * *

The three returned to the Rust Bucket, inside the cramped vehicle. Garou looked over his things… well, Ben's stuff in the process. In his hand was a game console. It reminded him of his childhood years, but he outgrew the need for them.

"About your hands. How are they sharp enough to cut stuff?" Gwen proclaimed with a neutral point at said appendages.

His were human fingers, with human nails, yet Garou could shred alien steel like paper with a blade.

"It's a technique. I copied it off my old mentor's brother." He summarized how he acquired it as he threw the console to the desk, already bored with it.

"Was he human?" Gwen asked curiously.

"Yeah, they're human. Superhuman. I am human as well before I got into this body." Garou rolled his eyes.

"I know. It's just crazy to believe that there are people capable of such power in the first place." Gwen thought wistfully, wondering what it would be like to live in Garou's universe.

"If you think that's crazy, you should meet the baldy." Garou scoffed with humor.

"Baldy? Is that one of those heroes?" Gwen already received a basis for that hero. She at least knew that he was without hair.

"Yeah. He is the one that managed to kick my ass. I still can't believe it even though it happened a few days ago." Garou grumbled as the picture of that man's stupid, bland face, boiled his frustration.

"Wow. Wonder what he's like." Gwen ruminated ponderously.

"He is a caped baldy." Garou succinctly pictured him with perfect accuracy.

"I meant personality-wise." Gwen deadpanned at Garou's unhelpful descriptive skills.

"No, he is a literal Caped Baldy. Even in personality. Everything about him screams normal on the outside and inside, yet…" Trembling in anger, Garou cut himself off as his memories flashed to where the annoying bald man confronted him, punched him to and fro into the earth and out into the sky, and even though he managed to awaken all of his might transforming four times, the baldy still beat him into the dirt. What the hell? No matter how he thought about it, it was stupidly unfair. That guy was broken no matter how he saw it.

"Did he send you here?" Gwen guessed based on this "caped baldy's" god-like strength.

"No… no, I don't think so." Garou couldn't picture that guy being capable of doing something like that. "Seriously, no matter what I did, he punched through everything I had…"

"Punched through? What did you try to do exactly?" Gwen encouraged him to explain more.

As they talked, Max listened in from the driver's seat, carefully intaking Garou's story with his full attention.

"Everything." Garou could not express his tale in a better word. "That guy is literally unfair as hell. Do you really want to hear me rant on how I lost to him?"

"There's nothing better to do, so shoot." Gwen did wish to know how the baldy taught Garou his lesson through violence anyway.

Taking a deep breath, Garou clenched his fists as he recalled everything that happened with vivid detail.

"The guy outmatched me in everything. He was faster, stronger, and even more durable than I was before I… achieved my ideal." If Garou were to return one day, he would pay the Baldy a personal visit if he managed to break through into his level.

"When we first met, it was after I defeated almost all of the S-Class heroes in an epic battle during their Raid into the Monster Association." That day was still fresh on his mind. The way the mightiest heroes fell one by one, how he decimated the Golden Teletubby, it was an eventful day filled with surprises indeed.

"S-Class? As in you single-handedly defeated the strongest heroes your world had to offer?" Gwen gasped heavily.

Max was starting to get more uncomfortable with Garou's presence, the more information he shared about himself.

"And the Strongest monster that survived… I had achieved a new level of power when I thought I became a monster when I was at my deathbed. I've survived through broken ribs, risk of incineration, psychic powers… it was after I defeated that tank I mentioned earlier. It was not easy." That memory was one of Garou's most celebrated achievements so far. He broke the body and spirit of Superalloy Darkshine.

"That's… it's a miracle you're still alive after all that." Gwen struggled to put her immense confusion into words. The logical side of her brain was struggling to keep up.

Garou paused for a second. In most cases, Garou should've died. But Gyoro Gyoro mentioned the secret of growth to him…

He could only answer with this, "I have defeated Death. From that battle, I dragged myself back to life and grew stronger."

"You don't mean that literally, right?" Gwen weakly giggled.

"It is more metaphorical than literal. All I did was clinging to life, after powering through the torment," Garou replied.

"Oh, so that's it." Gwen thought that Garou defeated the Grim Reaper for a second there.

"So what is it like to, uh, 'surpass death' as you said?" Gwen asked, wanting to know more about the drive behind Garou's power.

Garou could not explain it all in detail, but he could describe how he felt, "Well after I defeated the tankiest hero, something within me changed. It was… a strange feeling. I felt weightless as if my soul left my body. The disenthrallment was palpable as the cold night air."

"Like a ghost or spirit?"

"No. It meant whatever was holding me back… was no longer there. All I know is that the thing that left is what kept me weak." Garou could not phrase the feeling before any better. It was as if he had lost what kept him… normal.

"So, you had no weaknesses, yet… still lost." Gwen looked at Garou in awe-struck wonder.

"It was after I beat every hero still alive. I didn't even know he even existed… the Hero Association labeled him as a B-Class for God's Sake." Garou did not understand why that guy wasn't S-Class in the first place. Someone on his level should've been on the Hero Association's radar since their founding, so why?

"Seems like whoever was running that Hero Association had it out for him or had no idea what they were doing." Gwen quipped, knowing of many governments and organizations hampered by poor management.

"It was founded three years ago, so there are some problems… ugh. I don't want to talk about it. I don't know who the guy really is other than his stupid face and costume. I am done with him." His fingers twitched as if wanting to tear something apart at the mental image of the Caped Baldy.

Not wanting to delve into the subject further, Garou cut himself off, for now, wanting some peace from his worst day.

"That's fine. I think I got the gist of it anyway." Gwen soothed in a kind manner, deciding to end the conversation by navigating through her watch.

In the background, Max was trying to wrap his head around what Garou just shared. S-Class? Monster and Hero Associations? A Caped Baldy? Everything about his world seemed made up, but Garou's insane abilities proved otherwise. One thing left him increasingly scared, though. If Garou was able to travel to this universe without his acknowledgment, what was stopping others from ending up here as well? The thought sent a chill down his spine.

"What's our next stop, grandpa?" Gwen asked from her position on the couch. Max was about to reply but choked at the sight of what was near the campsite's parking lot.

Away from the neatly organized rows of parked vehicles, screaming pedestrians ran in fear at the sight of a giant orange robot with glowing red eyes. It had three metallic legs and a dark red chestplate, paired with long arms that housed four black claws each. Its body resembled that of a wasp in certain aspects.

"Hang on! I'm pulling over." Max yelled as he pressed his foot on the brake pedal and halted his RV to a skidding stop.

Gwen and Garou left the vehicle to take a look at the bigger robot. It was way more massive than the ones before.

"Whoa, what is that thing?" Gwen looked at the laser-shooting robot as it terrorized the area, blasting cars and vans while picking up random citizens.

"No idea, but it looks quite a bit high tech." It was definitely more advanced than Demon Cyborg in sophistication. It was utterly alien in design, as well.

"And big. Does your world have monsters this big?" Gwen asked.

"Heck, no."

Gwen was surprised.

"We usually have bigger."

And Gwen was no longer surprised.

"The fire breathing dog was bigger than this one too. And tougher."

A mix of curiosity and excitement flowed through him. Garou wanted to see if this bucket of bolts was stronger than the Demon Cyborg.

"Stay here. Imma go dismantle it." Garou wanted to see how it will break, his sadistic tendencies resurfacing in the time of crisis. However, before he could exit the door, Gwen objected to his decision.

"No way! This is my chance to be a hero for once. And I call dibs!" Gwen assertively demanded, activating the watch's dial with a battle-ready smirk as she ran out of the Rust Bucket.

"...dibs?" Garou quirked a brow at the unusual slang.

* * *

Gwen adjusted the switch about three times before deciding on a transformation. Hearing Garou's exploits when he was a villain and enduring his combat prowess had inspired her. Standing before her was a chance to take the first step in the path of a hero. She refused to let Garou dismantle her opportunity to use the watch.

"This will do." Gwen then slammed her palm on the button. Spreading from her watch, a multitude of pulsating veins extended across her arm to her facial area in seconds. Her body grew exponentially more prominent and more muscular in terms of stature, topped off with two more arms protruding from her torso. By the end of the transformation sequence, Gwen had red skin and four yellow slits with the same orange hair unique to her human form. The white hourglass was now on her shoulder, staying as Gwen's symbol of her identity.

"Whoa, check me out." Her voice was more profound, more amazonian. She flexed her thick muscles back and forth; they brimmed with energy.

"What will you call this one?" Garou asked, a little curious about her abilities.

"Hmph. I don't know. Maybe… Fourarms!" Gwen suggested with a wide toothy smile, flexing all of her arms as indicated by the name.

When she transformed, the giant drone set its sights on Gwen's Tetramand form outside the Rust Bucket.

"Heh, really? Well, I've heard worse names so…" Garou gestured towards the machine that was stampeding towards them.

"Care for a bet?" Garou offered.

"What do you have in mind?" Gwen crouched down for a moment to listen in on Garou's idea.

"If you beat that thing in one minute… I might teach you my killer-martial arts."

His killer moves… Gwen beamed a smile as her eyes sparkled for a moment at the prospect of learning the same skills that allowed Garou to beat most of the strongest in his world.

"Prepare some room in your schedule because you're about to have an apprentice!" Gwen cockily assured, cracking each of her knuckles for good measure.

"Hoh. Care to back up your words? I can kill this thing in less than a second," Garou boasted.

"Then it is time to smack some evil robots Fourarms-style!" With a mighty leap, Gwen stormed towards the drone, each of her footsteps shaking the ground.

The drone focused its lens at the white hourglass on her shoulder, gravitating to it like a magnet sticking to steel. Confirming that she was her quarry, the mechanical giant shot out a red blast of energy at the ground. This sent Gwen flying, smashing into a vehicle parked nearby. Gwen slowly got back up on her feet, massaging her aching scalp with an angry expression.

"Grrrr. Eat this!" Gwen yelled out as she picked up the scraps of a dismantled station wagon and tossed it at the robot. The drone easily deflected this attack but was left wide open for a fast-approaching Gwen. She jumped through the skies and crashed into the drone's face like a descending meteorite, the impact of her fist leaving a sizable dent as it was sent tumbling down.

"Hah, how do you like that?" Gwen chortled defiantly.

The drone removed itself from the pavement with a noticeably missing right eye. Due to its targeting system fractured into disarray, it began shooting lasers in all aleatoric directions in an attempt to strike its primary target. Its beams eviscerated various cars into a mass of fiery explosions, clouding the entire parking lot in a haze of orange flame.

"It can't see me. I could use this to my advantage…" Gwen perused the surrounding area for any weapons she could use. Dodging laser after laser, Gwen caught sight of a proximate lamppost residing near the pine trees.

"Jackpot!" Gwen whispered to herself, delightedly. She ran up to the post and effortlessly ripped the metal pole from its roots, using two of her hands to hold it like an Olympic javelin.

In Gwen's absence, the robot aimed its guns right at the Rust Bucket in its frenzy, firing a straight shot directly at Garou in Ben's body.

Max screamed in horror, "No! Be-"

He smacked the red beam away, deflecting it back at the turret, exploding its guns. Garou did not even seem fazed by the blast.

"Oh, right…" He forgot that Garou was in his grandson's body for just a second.

Max still could not get used to the current surrealism. But even so, it was the first time he saw a child repel a high-tech laser shot with their bare hands.

"Hey, Iron Giant!" Gwen bellowed its attention, sprinting back into view. The drone's static vision temporarily cleared up to reveal its intended target, ready to fire its beams at Fourarms.

"Here's a present for you!" With all of her might, Gwen threw the lamppost's lower end at the drone's chestplate. Before the drone could expunge another clip, the makeshift spear skewered the drone through the chest and dragged it along its flight. Losing its power and strength, it sent out one last laser beam that streaked obliquely across the sky in vain as it burned nothing but the air of the moonlit night.

"Hraaaah!" Gwen screamed as she jumped toward the discombobulated machine and smashed its head to pieces with all four fists. Once its central core was destroyed, a chain reaction of explosions annihilated the machine, leaving only crumbs of the advanced assailant.

"Whew, that was a tough fight," Gwen exasperated. She had never felt this much adrenaline coursing through her but she admitted that it was refreshing. She cranes her thick, red neck to Garou and flashed a confident smile.

"How long was that?" Gwen asked, wiping some sweat off of her forehead and taking a moment to breathe.

"Hmmm…" Judging by her display, Gwen's current strength was around Demon-level at best. As for how strong, he did not know. Probably around the lower levels.

"You were just one second away from failing." Garou scoffed as he tapped on his wrist to tease her.

"Still passed, though. Which means a deal's a deal," Gwen smirked.

"Yeah, but now that I think about it, how common is it for aliens to be seen by people?" Garou asked, taking the populace into account. Gwen's four eyes blinked a few times before she jerked her head to view the people she helped save.

With the rampaged ceased and peace returned, the civilians returned to the scene. They saw the result of the aftermath, cracked asphalt and vehicles burning black smoke surrounding an unidentifiable creature with red skin and four arms in the center.

"Um, no need to thank me, citizens?" Gwen shyly greeted with a good-natured waving of her bulky hand. Max, wanting to make sure they got out of this area as soon as possible, hopped in the Rust Bucket and made preparations to drive.

Garou found her predicament amusing. The sight of a hero trying to preserve their public image and convince the witnesses that they are not a monster. It was a sight he would never see back home.

"Have fun getting back at the campsite," Garou called out behind Fourarms as he returned to the Rust Bucket.

Fourarms turned to Garou as he entered the Rust Bucket. Did he just leave her to the wolves? She found her answer when the Rust Bucket drove off, leaving her alone as it exited her sight.

"Oh, I am so getting back at you."

* * *

Fire flickered, smoke rose from within an apartment. Glass panes fell in shards as explosions erupted within as the heat ignited the flammable gases inside.

Within the building, a mother and her daughter were trapped, the descending stairs collapsed into piles of tinder as the inferno cordoned their escape. The girl huddled into her mother's bosom as the air grew thick and thin. They were about to die, trapped in choking smog and hellfire with no path for the rescuers to come to their aid.

However…

Gwen, in the form of Heatblast, dove down from the ceiling. Deep concentration contorted her face as she held up a piece of fallen debris overhead. The little girl was amazed by the spectacle standing before her.

"W-who are you?" The girl breathed out in sheer awe, her mother still clinging onto her for moral support. Gwen gazed down at the two with a determined frown that didn't signify any iota of vitriol.

"I'm here to help," Gwen replied as she discarded the slab scorched slab of wood without much effort. She then outstretched her brightly lit hands and absorbed the surrounding fire like a heat-centric vacuum. To the mother and child's combined shock, the doorway to their damaged apartment was now free to enter.

"Follow me." Gwen signaled for the two to get up, leading them to a staircase built near the hallway. However, much to the Pyronite's chagrin, it collapsed into pieces from the building's constant rumbling.

Just when she thought today would be no different.

"Don't worry. We'll take this way instead." Gwen assured them at the sight of a wooden door built into the wall. With an elongated blast of flame, minding the mother and child, Gwen tore out an entrance to the outside world.

"Stick close to me," Gwen ordered calmly, pointing to the right and left sides of her body. The mom, while slightly hesitant, followed the fiery life form with her daughter held in hand.

Toot sweet, Gwen formed a massive fire tornado around herself and the other two. It curved down to the sidewalk and safely placed them on top of the pavement. Due to Heatblast's control over all forms of heat, the mother, daughter, and surrounding populace were left unharmed.

"T-thank you so much… uh, ma'am?" The mother thanked her with some sense of uncertainty, not sure if fire monsters really had genders. The little girl also did the same, nodding her head up and down enthusiastically.

"No need to thank me. It's all in a day's work for a hero such as myself." She placed her hands on her hips, jutting her chest forward with pride.

Behind the crowd, the Rust Bucket drove silently. She could see Grandpa Max through the driver's window, but no sign of Be-no, Garou… she should really stop referring to him as Ben.

"Huh, wonder where he could be?" Gwen wondered aloud to herself, departing from the crowd to take a seat in the Rust Bucket. After making sure she was safe from public sight, Gwen sighed in relief as her timer went off, returning her to human form after her dial flashed constant red.

"Grandpa? Where is…. Well, you know?" Gwen asked.

Max pursed his lips as he stared at the front window.

"I had to take care of a problem." A familiar voice replied before Max could answer. Looking back, they saw Garou yawning, but his fists were caked in crimson. Blood was on his hands, and it was not his. Garou went to the sink and washed his hands, cleaning the bloodstains downed the drain with soap and water.

"What'd you do now?" Gwen sighed with crossed arms.

"Took down the guys that set the fire," Garou replied as he walked to the fridge, opening it to browse what was currently in stock. Gwen and Max shared a look, sharing a growing concern regarding Garou's mindset.

This wasn't his first time brutally punishing criminals. One time, Garou beat up three thugs because they were robbing an old lady. They have never seen someone's limbs twisted into a pretzel before, and it was a sad sight.

"Look, um, Garou. I know you're doing the right thing, but could you consider easing up on the violence a bit? It's getting out of hand really fast." Gwen chastised the Hero Hunter for the blood he inadvertently put on her cousin's hands.

"Hey, if you live in a world where people can turn into monsters and deaths come in daily, this much isn't considered as 'too far.'" Garou retorted, taking out a sandwich from the fridge.

"Yeah, but you're not in your world right now. We have laws against this type of stuff." Gwen was starting to question the laws and etiquettes of the heroes in his world. It could be unique to Garou himself.

"Well, the worse thing is the be thrown in prison with a hero that rapes men," Garou casually shrugged.

The image of a man doing _that_ with another man crossed Gwen's and Max's mind. They did not like the picture as their stomach churned with disgust.

"Please don't put that image in my head." Gwen hissed in disgust, pinching the bridge of her nose with closed eyes.

"It's true… there is an S-Class hero like that. He is one of the more questionable hero-types." Garou continued before biting into his sandwich.

"What?" Gwen was confused. "Wait wait wait, are you serious? One of your world's best heroes is a sexual offender?" Gwen looked stupefied.

"Repeated sexual offender. Rumor has it he collects the criminals he caught to his prison cell."

"I have so much to say to criticize your world's ethics; I don't know where to start." Gwen retorted.

She decided to stop talking about Garou's insane world before she strayed from the topic too much.

"But that's beside the point. Just… promise me that you'll hold back just a little on normal criminals. For aliens, do what you want." Gwen pleaded earnestly, her eyes narrowed to show that she meant business.

Garou paused mid-chewing, silently contemplating her suggestion. While he had no tolerance for despicable acts, like bullying the weak, Garou did not have any real obligations to enact penance on the sinners. This was not his world… but in his heart, it did not matter anyway.

"...fine. I'll leave them on the floor, drooling." She reminded him of a mother, despite her age.

"Better… I think." Gwen did not know what he meant by 'drooling,' but it was a start.

On the other hand, Max sighed from mental exhaustion. Traveling with a stranger in his grandson's body was not in his expectations when he invited them on a summer trip.

"What'd you do to them this time?" He asked.

Garou turned to the Tennysons, his lips spread wide in a smirk.

"Well…"

* * *

The fire was just a diversion, noise to keep the eyes of the law from a simple crime. The cost was the lives of many for trinkets and gems, yet the thieves did not care. They sold the victims' to the devils' mercy, their reward was more time to flee with the wealth they harvested and the hope to return as rich men.

The two men drove from the jewelry store with breakneck haste, grinning in their hearts as they inwardly laughed. No sirens blared, no sight of striped cars in their rearview mirror, the absence of anyone chasing them brought the crooks much delight.

"Hey." However, they heard an unexpected voice in the backseat. Confused, the Driver tilted the rearview mirror down, seeing a kid in their car. He had brown hair and a white T-Shirt, his leggings were baggy dark-green jeans.

"Is that a kid back there?" The driver uttered.

"Look, kid, I don't know how you got in, but…"

The kid smirked as he pointed left. The crooks tilted their rearview mirror, catching a glaring hole in the handle of the van. The villains gawped at it for a moment as the kid started crunching his knuckles together.

"I've never hunted small fry before. But, since I've got time, well…" His grin widened into a wicked length, a mien promising pain and punishment for the ones in front.

Within the van, cries of pain and shouts for mercy resounded, the vehicle's trajectory thrown off its course as it crashed into the walls on the sidewalk. The pedestrians all fled from its path, with no casualties from the impact.

However, something odd happened. The door to the van fell off from its hinges splitting from the impact. What fell afterward were two occupants, each with faces bloodied and swelling black and blue under their ski masks.

* * *

"-and that's what happened." He narrated as he threw the last piece into his mouth.

"The police didn't see you, right?" Gwen asked nervously, guessing that her aunt and uncle would age sixty years if they saw that their only son was a wanted felon.

"Please, I'm faster than Lightspeed Flash despite the downgrade." Garou spread his arms, gesturing to his weaker body.

"Lightspeed Flash? And you say my names are bad." Gwen laughed at the mention of this person.

"I know, right? That guy boasted he's the fastest hero alive, but you know the story," Garou replied as he swallowed his meal.

"How fast are you anyway?" Gwen wondered, curious of his limits.

"Don't know. If Lightspeed Flash is as fast as he sounds, then consider me faster," Garou shrugged.

"Ohhh." A devious idea popped in Gwen's head. "If you're as fast as you claim, then wanna test it with XLR8?" Gwen challenged in a joking manner, displaying the shadow of a dinosaur-like creature.

"Hah! You think your cheap aliens can stand against me?" Garou dared.

"Afraid of losing to a girl?" Gwen quipped back.

"Oh, you're on." Garou accepted as he placed his feet off the table, ready to go whenever Gwen was.

"Not now, you two. We need to go to the local grocery store for supplies." Max lectured with little patience at the moment, looking at them through the Rust Bucket's rearview mirror.

"Ohhhhh. That's right, we almost ran out."

"Plus, with his appetite, we'll be there quite a lot." Gwen jerked a thumb towards said Human Monster with a mischievous grin. Garou was already digging for more food in the fridge, scouring the deepest corners of the freezing container. When Garou closed the fridge, he emerged with a jar of pickles in hand. He even had a pickle in his mouth.

"What?" He crunched the end off before swallowing. "Blame this body. It's not my fault this thing is poorly maintained."

"Watch it," Max warned. "That's my grandson you're talking about."

Max reprimanded Garou with a stern frown.

"'Grandson,' my butt. Is there anything redeeming about him?" Garou quirked a brow as he started munching on the pickles bar by bar.

"Well, there's quite a few actually. For one thing, Ben always had the instinct to help others. Apparently, he tried to protect someone from two bullies named J.T. and Cash," Max brought up.

"He got wedgied for that, grandpa…" Gwen reminded him with a mocking snicker.

Garou smirked in mocking victory over Max and his pitiful defense, "I rest my case." Garou finished eating all of the pickles; he burped into his hand as before giving Max his back.

"Hey, it's the thought that counts!" Max defended.

Garou found his argument weak and wearing thin. Before the argument can continue, they arrived at the grocery store just in time as Max parked the Rust Bucket in a free parking spot.

"Anyways, let's go. I am starving for some cola and pizza." Stretching his arms from the hours of the trip's dull idleness, Garou ran out of the Rust Bucket.

"Like you're any better…" Max muttered under his breath once Garou left, rolling his eyes as he proceeded the drive to M-Mart.

Gwen looked at Max, sheepishly grinning somewhat.

"...what?" Max asked, turning to Gwen.

"It's the first time I've seen you argue like this. It's kind of… cute." She smiled wider.

"Cute? That's the last thing someone would describe me as. I'm just… frustrated. That's all." Max denied distastefully, wondering where this summer started to go wrong.

"Come on, grandpa. You have to admit that Garou is better than Ben in some aspects. I mean, he's in shape for one." Gwen attempted to cheer up the elder Tennyson with some positives.

Max couldn't deny that Garou was helping Ben's body get into shape. His muscle tone was starting to show under his shirt, and it was developing at a noticeable pace.

"That's not the point, Gwen. I set up this vacation as a way of bonding with the two of you. As a family. With Ben gone, I feel like this summer won't be as enjoyable as it could have been." Max sighed forlornly with saddened eyes.

Gwen thought back for a moment, looking up. She remembered the exciting stories behind Garou's background, how easy it was to talk to him afterward, he was kinder and much less annoying to speak to, he was mature, he was fun to talk to… and he was strong as heck. Not only that, he knows how to fight very well. Garou even admitted his identity openly to them, sharing Max's desire to leave Ben's body.

"Just give him a chance, grandpa. It's not like Ben will be gone forever. We'll get him back someday. Plus, Garou wants the same thing… it's just a matter of getting used to him. He is kinda… fun." Gwen promised kindly, glancing back at Garou's form with a warm smile.

"You're right, honey. I'll work on it."

Max's frustration slowly bled from him. Dealing with Garou was a hurdle in itself, but that did not mean the man wanted to stay. He didn't ask for this, too, which made this problem even harder to handle.

"Let's go. What do you want to buy?"


	3. Chapter 3: Unusual Beginnings, New Face

"-and you said that Ben likes seeing fat men wrestling each other to the ground? Why?"

Garou and Gwen browsed the cereal aisle, the shelves holding the Sumo Slammer brands, as they discussed Ben's likes and dislikes. Garou squinted his eyes at the cartoonish picture of the fat man on the cardboard, trying to understand why Ben found the Sumo Slammer thing interesting.

"Yeah, he was practically obsessed. Mostly because of the video games, I think. I don't understand it much either." Gwen honestly explained, observing the multi-colored Sumo Slammers Cards on each box.

"The games are not even that good…" Garou would rather fight the baldy again then to suffer boredom. "What about the cereal? Are the oats even worth the money?" Garou asked if she tried the brand before.

"No. Not even close." Gwen spat in disgust, remembering the time she had to rinse out her poor taste buds after eating one piece of the dreaded cereal.

"Huh. Now, I feel sorry for you." Garou wondered how the girl could stand such an obnoxious ego. Not even he was that annoying when he was ten.

"Yeah, but that's Ben's thing. I usually practice real fighting like Taekwondo and Jiu-Jitsu."

The mention of martial arts reminded him of his secondary objective. He wanted to check this world's Martial arts to expand his repertoire of skills.

"Oh? You're a martial artist?" Garou asked.

"Yup. I may not look like it, but I'm a fighter through and through! But I can't do things like cutting up machines or beat up criminals." Gwen's jubilance slightly disheartened once comparing her feats to his. "So, what kind of martial arts did you study?"

Studied? Garou only spent his time mastering one art first. The rest he learned on the fly through direct combat.

"Now that I think about it, I only mastered one martial art; then I developed my own down the line after I left the dojo." Garou ruminated his years of harsh training and trials to this point, a laborious yet fulfilling experience now that he looked back.

Gwen's smirk fell flat from Garou's answer.

"Really? You've created your own martial art?"

Her skeptical tone instilled a strange urge to boast in Garou. For some reason, he felt different when he entered this body. He uncovered a few traits he usually did not have before. Either Garou was inheriting some of Ben's personality or his age was the reason.

"I'll have you know that I made it at the climax of my Hero Hunting career. It's the culmination of the twelve prime martial arts I absorbed, and it has no weaknesses." Garou spoke with pride, smirking with his nose held high.

"And you still lost to the baldy?" Gwen chimed with a growing smirk, breaking Garou's momentum like a hammer to glass.

"Shut iiiiit! You'll eat that grin when he pummels every alien you got in that watch!" He indignantly raged defensively, pointing his finger at her when Garou gnashes her teeth.

Gwen nearly busted her gut laughing, "Pfff, Ahahahahahahahaha!" She had never heard of anyone losing to someone so ridiculous, a martial art master losing to a 'stupid Caped Baldy.' The more she learned of Garou's background, the funnier it was to tease him.

"It's not funny!" Garou shouted back, grinding Ben's teeth with indignant anger. Hearing Garou says that with Ben's voice only fueled her laughter.

"Ahahahahahahahaha! I-I can't stop laughing if you're like that!" Gwen continued her laughter, occasional snickers leaking out after she laughed out all of her energy to laugh as she smiled at Garou's angry frown. She wondered how funny it would be if Garou frowned in his original face.

"Are you done?" Garou asked, not amused by her sly grin and spent chuckles.

"Haha… ha… yeah. Anyways, overpowered baldies aside, think you can tell me about your 'no weaknesses' martial art, by any chance? I've been in tournaments before, but I'm always looking for ways to improve." Gwen asked with anticipation, her green eyes glowing with excitement.

Garou stared at her for a moment before reviewing her abilities by this point. Her fighting style was very unpolished, unrefined, her experience with combat natal, and her potential was opaque, but there was a light at the end of that tunnel.

"Well, I'm not sure if you can use it, but there are a few styles we can try. We can start with the Water Stream Rock Smashing fist. I grew up learning it from the old geezer."

Gwen's ears perked at the mention of a teacher.

"Really? What's his name?"

Garou recalled the dojo, the steep stairs leading to the mountain atop, the harsh days of training under the sun day by day… it felt nostalgic — an irony since he was now passing his teachings on to another person.

"Well, they call him Bang. He is also the Number 3 Hero, Silverfang." The reason that Garou entered his dojo was that he was strong, the top number 3 hero when he was ten. He trained under his dojo for years, to stand up against the many that oppressed him. In a sense, he got his wish… but not without leaving mistakes along the way.

"Wait, so your master is a hero himself?!" Gwen's emerald eyes sparkled at the thought. To be trained by a Monster Slaying hero must be an opportunity of a lifetime! She always wanted to train under one of those true Kung-Fu masters before, but finding one was just an ideal dream… now, it was within arm's reach.

"Yeah. It was the reason why I joined in the first place when I was ten. The old fart is as strong as his reputation… maybe even more so," he admitted.

During their conversation, Garou picked up a cereal box from the shelf. He stared at the Sumo Slammer Logo on the cardboard, finding the sight of the overweight man repulsive.

"Hold up, if your master was a hero, when did you decide to hunt them down?" Gwen wondered in a less excited tone.

"When I was eighteen. I am still eighteen on the inside." Garou replied as he looked at the back, the sides, and top of the cereal box out of morbid curiosity.

"That doesn't really explain why, but… you don't have to tell me." Gwen exclaimed quietly, not wanting to put too much pressure on him.

"...ever wonder what makes a hero?" Garou asked, placing the cereal box on the shelf.

"The willingness to protect the innocent and save lives? Or standing up for what's right, even if you don't have the power to do so?"

"...then tell me. What is the definition of 'right'?" Garou asked, bringing Gwen into a realm of uncertain truth, the line between right and wrong.

"I… it's difficult to explain. Like what's morally sound, maybe?" Gwen shrugged nervously.

"I know what you mean. But what if the definition of 'right' meant taking down anyone they see as 'evil?' Or in the 'wrong?' Even if they aren't," Garou asked.

"I mean… I'm smart enough to know that the world isn't black and white. Some people considered evil nowadays were probably seen as good by the people they ruled over." Gwen shared her thoughts, images of the Roman Empire appearing inside her head. He might be going through a form of weltschmerz.

"And if such trust was abused by the 'hero' to abuse the weak, what would you do if all you believe to be good turned out rotten from the inside?"

Gwen paused for a moment, trying to think of a logical response to this very possible situation. What would she do if someone close to her committed some act of betrayal? Like Grandpa Max, for instance.

"...those I looked up to before turned out to be fakes. I took the mantle of Hero Hunter to show the world the true nature of the heroes they rely on and break free from the rigged system. I want to show the world how fragile their justice and their failings to see the rot within the Hero Association," He cursed.

Gwen was starting to understand where Garou was coming from.

"I understand what you're feeling, Garou, but… hunting down those same heroes isn't any better." Gwen reminded him of the gray morality laced in his actions.

"They represent everything that is wrong with the current society's justice. If they see their idols of justice fall, then it would mean everything they believed in is wrong in return. To represent justice, you need to become a symbol, and to represent the opposite, I must become the antithesis. I wanted to become the Symbol of Fear to fight against this biased justice… but now… it doesn't matter anymore. I've lost in the end in a fair fight regardless. And now I am stuck in the body of an idiot that liked to see fat men fight each other and rot his brain in video games."

Gwen spluttered in laughter upon hearing his end joke, complaining about Ben even though he was not here.

"N-now, I'm wondering what you would do if you actually met him in person." Gwen laughed playfully, wiping a stray tear from her eye.

"That depends. What would he say if we met face to face?" Garou dryly asked.

"Hmmm, oh, I know! '_You're not so tough. I bet I could destroy you in Sumo Slammers!_'" Gwen mockingly imitated Ben's whiny voice, adding a few voice cracks for good measure.

Garou snickered as he chuckled. "What the hell, that sounded worse than I thought. Oh god, I now want a voice change…" Garou snickered, his voice now sounding like how Ben would laugh.

"Too bad. You're stuck with it." Gwen giggled while playfully wagging her finger.

Garou only rolled his eyes with sarcasm, "Oh, shut up. Back to our shopping list, what should we bring to the Rust Bucket? Anything you want?"

"You tell me. You're a walking garbage disposal." Gwen pointed out Garou's inhuman metabolism. Neither she nor Garou could comprehend how or why his hunger persisted even after emptying their fridge. She didn't even know that the human body could store or process that many calories in the first place. Not only that, Garou did not also go to the bathroom that much despite the amount in bus gullet. Where did it all go entering his mouth?

"If you ask me, I will hoard one of everything, but I don't think there's enough room in the Rust Bucket," Garou quipped.

Gwen couldn't agree more, "Maybe we should find my grandpa first."

Hopefully, Max had some extra storage space in the RV.

But, suddenly, a loud crash exploded from the entrance, then a loud rumble vibrating their feet. The two pseudo-cousins looked at each other for a moment before they walked towards the source of the noise. What they didn't expect was an unusual sight customarily reserved for Garou's world, or so the former villain thought.

Before the duo's very eyes was a giant bullfrog with four red and black eyes, it had two light greenhorns and many dark orange spots. Sitting on top of its neck was a strange old man with pale skin and a dark green tank top. He wore red goggles and a pot-like helmet that was firmly attached to his head using earmuffs. The individual also had long, white hair and sharp fingernails that were unusually long.

The two looked at the mount and rider, one looked shocked to see the strange combination, while the latter dropped his jaw upon seeing such a combination happening in a quiet supermarket.

"-you said that there aren't monsters here, right?" Garou asked for confirmation.

"Y-yeah. Positive." Gwen gulped a growing lump in her throat.

"You sure? It looks exactly like something that would pop up back home." Either this was a first-time occurrence or something went wrong after he arrived. He hoped it wasn't the latter, however.

"W-What usually pops up in your world, anyway?" Gwen whispered.

"There was that one time a Giant popped up. It was so tall that its head reached the clouds, and it wiped out City D with one swing of its arms. When King killed it, it fell on City B, flattening that one, too." Garou gave a morbid example of what lies in his realm.

"You're acting as if that's normal!" Gwen screeched in surprise.

"Hey, I faced worse, honestly, and I'm fine."

"You're a superhuman… something! Of course, you'll be fine! That's not normal!" Gwen retorted.

In the background, the weird scientist jumped off of his 'pet' and took a burlap sack. He set his sights on some circuit boards hanging off of a rack and proceeded to throw them into his sack bunch by bunch.

"Gwen, when things like that happened weekly, you will treat it as normal. I never said it was a safe world, remember?" Not even Garou could predict the number of monsters that would pop up now and then. No one understood how the monster phenomenon occurred in the first place.

"Hah. Fine, fine! But what about that thing?" Gwen cringed at the sight of the over-sized amphibian as it patiently waited for its master to return.

"That one is a more common occurrence. But we should get moving, or he'll get away. Do you want a go at them, or should I prepare the fridge for the meat?" Garou offered her a choice: fight the giant frog head-on or leave him to butcher the mutant into meat for the fridge.

Gwen rolled her eyes at Garou's suggestion to turn the giant frog into food.

"I think it's best if we both handle this. Just to be safe."

Gwen's sly smile insinuated something else otherwise. From his time spent with her, he had a good idea of her intent.

"-you're calling dibs on the frog, aren't you?" Garou soured.

Gwen had enjoyed teaching the former Hero Hunter the art of 'dibs' and other slang in the interim.

"See? We're getting to know each other so well!" Gwen patted Garou's back happily, grinning at Garou's grumbling. He sounded more like Ben, but much more fun whenever he was like this.

* * *

The doctor would soon have his vengeance. Those idiots that dared deny him what was his had no idea the dedication and zeal he poured into developing a new branch of biology. No longer shall he endure that run-down apartment, skipping months of rent just to get by as he poured his everything into his work. How dare they foolishly picked someone else for the award instead of him.

He would make them pay. He would make them all pay! He would-

"BLEH?!"

XLR8 smacked him out of his thoughts before he could finish his internal monologue. Gwen knocked him out of his mount, catching his attention as the doctor growled at his attacker.

"Who dares interrupt the great work of Dr. Animo?!" He shouted.

"Great work? I wouldn't call excess robbery 'great.' Especially the frog." Gwen jokingly mocked, a blue and black visor shifting up to reveal her blue, reptilian face. XLR8, otherwise classified as a Kineceleran, was a bipedal lizard with black wheels for feet. She wore a blue jumpsuit that matched her usual shirt and a long blue tail with five lightly tinted stripes. The transformation also granted Gwen three black claws on each hand and spiked elbows.

Animo gnashed his rotted teeth, infuriated by this… creature's mockery of his crusade.

"How dare you, freak! Destroooy her!" He shouted, commanding his enthralled mutant bullfrog to do his bidding.

Croaking, it roared before it lashed its putrid tongue at the blue lizard. However, it did not hit her. Instead, it felt something hitting its sides.

"Too slow! Got to be faster than that!"

Gwen laughed as she zipped again. XLR8 was fast, but Garou did mention her flaw in controlling her speed. He advised that she should practice her control over her mobility first more than pure velocity for now. What was even more surprising was that Garou was actually as fast as her… probably even faster. His control over his movements was far cleaner as well since she could not cancel her momentum in high speed as effectively.

"Grrrr, I'll show you!" Dr. Animo growled hatefully, looking around the store for something to mutate. His eyes caught sight of a section dedicated exclusively to selling animals as pets, housing birds, hamsters, and more. Taking advantage of this, Animo twisted the dial in the center of his chestplate. In response, a lightning bolt of red electricity surged to life on top of his helmet and careened towards said intended area.

Once it did, it struck the bird as it changed, growing in size, its white color darkening, and its aggression amplified as it screeched under Animo's command.

"Huh, so that's how you made the Giant Bullfrog."

"Huh?!" Animo looked behind him. He saw a boy, brown hair, white shirt, baggy jeans, no more than ten years old appearance-wise. Both of his arms behind his back and his feet pressed together, and he stood with his back straight as he looked up at him.

"And whoooo are you, brat?! Go run away like the others!" Animo roared.

However, the kid's response was a smile, before he raised his leg and smashed something Animo only used to release his ammonia.

The boy smashed his crotch with an upward kick, the impact crushing his scrotum as if trying to bury it into his intestines. The pain… science could not describe such agony. Oh, how could such pain even exist?

Dr. Animo's eyes popped out of their sockets, white foam bubbling out of his mouth as he collapsed onto his knees. The 'great' scientist unceremoniously passed out entirely in an instant. The monstrous parakeet, outraged by its master's defeat, lunged at the unconcerned Garou with a high-pitched screech.

The bird cawed at the boy, beak open and ready to maim the boy of ten. However, the closer it got to him, it stopped when it saw something… monstrous. A dark, oppressive aura emerged from the boy, forming into a demonic skull staring down at it. The boy's size seem to triple… no, quintuple. It was still growing as the weight of the pressure bore down on it, as if it were drowning in water.

The moment the bird was about to crash into the boy, it stopped and perched the floor, bowing its head down to the ground before the boy as he looked down on it with a stern gaze and a smirk. Those who were still present watched as the monstrous bird kowtowed before the kid, unable to parse the scene with their minds.

Grandpa Max, holding a shopping cart filled to the brim with groceries, was one of those witnesses. The boy was even petting the bird, showing no signs of fear, only casual dominance.

"That boy scares me sometimes," Max mumbled, shaking his head in disbelief. Never in his years did he saw a mutant yield to a kid the age of ten.

Meanwhile, XLR8 was panting, but she stood over the bullfrog in victory.

"Come on, Gwen. We're done." Garou said as he walked over to Animo and stomped on his headgear, smashing it to fragmented bits. Once the machine was destroyed, Animo's bullfrog and parakeet reverted to standard size.

Peace returned to the mall, scars of the battle remaining with the aftermath still glowing warmly. Shelves toppled and dust crumbling from the giant hole in the wall, the civilians slowly made their way back to the scene, spotting the two victors over the maniacal doctor and his former mutant pets, one of them walking over to the old skinny man while transforming back to her human form in a bright flash of red

"Wonder what he was trying to do, anyway?" Gwen pondered. He marched in here to steal some circuitry for some purpose. Gwen nor Garou didn't even give the robber a chance to declare his intentions. He did give his name, though.

"Who cares? He's beaten. Let's just leave with the food before he wakes up and rant nonsense. I'm hungry as heck." Garou shrugged as they walked away.

As Gwen was about to leave, she noticed the same parakeet happily flying around Garou's head. She smiled at the warm sight, finding the bird circling around a former villain's head cutely.

"Looks like you have a new friend." Gwen chuckled lightheartedly.

"Hm?" Garou looked up, seeing the bird chirping circles. "Eh? Go away. Shoo." Garou tried to wave it away, but it still circled his head.

Gwen started to giggle when the bird landed on Garou's head, chirping in response.

Max, noticing the heavily damaged cash register and store shelves, rolled his cart over to the cashier. "Can I still pay for this?" Max whispered in pure curiosity.

The cashier poked his head from the counter, looking at him and the defeated scientist and creature. His eyes then fell on the two children that supposedly saved the day, strange as they may be.

"…are they yours?" He pointed at them.

"Yeah, those are my grandkids," Max replied proudly.

"Oh… take them. It's on the house." The cashier gave Max a thumbs up. "Your kids have a bright future. Though they do seem strange…"

"Just like their grandpa." Max joked.

A month's supply of food: acquired.

* * *

Four days had passed since that random encounter.

From that point on, the traveling three encountered more strange happenings ever since Garou entered Ben… or Gwen obtained that strange watch.

The next day after defeating the Dr. Animo weirdo, the three encountered a lake Kraken. Some idiot was trying to poach her eggs. The cops carried the poachers to jail as they lost their family jewels. Max did not approve, but Gwen laughed when she saw him crush their pride through their groins. But she didn't support Garou taking a piece of the Kraken to sample as meat.

The second day, they visited a kind woman named Aunt Vera, the sister of Max Tennyson. Her personality matched her obesity, the kind that tends to invade personal space much to Garou's chagrin. For some reason, a host of aliens decided to snatch the neighbors to colonize on the surface. It was the first shape-shifting species Garou encountered, and he did not approve of the betrayal.

The fate of the alien colony laid beneath the Earth, puddles of goo slipping away from life and memory next to their burning ship.

The third day was Garou fulfilling his promise to teach Gwen Martial Arts. However, it involved much intensive labor and focus, forcing her to carry heavy things for a mile like rocks or a shopping cart of groceries on her back. Garou found her struggles amusing, Gwen was livid that he enjoyed her suffering. She released her stress against Garou through their sparrings. Afterward, they arrived at a strange town outside the arid desert, one filled with an alien species the locals called Megawatts.

After Gwen accidentally destroyed a giant rubber band ball using Four Arms, hundreds of these annoying little imps wreaked havoc on the inhabitants of Sparksville. They were speedy and equally irritating.

Discovering a new technology-bonding alien called Upgrade, Gwen decided to win the battle with brains over brawn, the way she usually solves problems in human form. She transformed into Heatblast and tricked the group of electric miscreants into sealing themselves inside the World's Largest Fish Bowl. The mayor then converted it into a lightbulb, cashing in on the spectacle as a tourist attraction. He also constructed a sign that stated, "In case of emergency, do not break the glass."

Garou laughed at the miscreants trapped inside with great mocking joy, and he laughed harder when they banged on the glass enraged. He really sounded like Ben when he laughed, though the two Tennysons weren't sure. All in all, it was an eventful four days, with Gwen discovering three new aliens in the process.

Now, they stayed in a hotel for a single night, somewhere around New York as the two children wandered around the place, one of them eating a kebab of roasted tentacles he got from the Kraken.

"How do you still have that?" Gwen shivered with a disgusted face.

"Mm." Garou gulped before answering. "Savoring it for quite a while. Still got some leftovers in the fridge if you want." Garou smirked before biting into his tentacle.

"I don't think you should be eating it, though. We don't know where the Kraken's been." Gwen scolded in worry, thinking of how many possible infections it could possess.

"Hey, it's cooked. Besides, I've eaten raw monster meat before, and look at me," Garou replied.

Gwen nearly hurled at the mention of Garou eating raw… monster. She still couldn't picture what kind of monster he meant, but she did not want to find out.

"WHY WOULD YOU DO THAT?!" Gwen shrieked with shrunken irises, comically flailing her arms all over the place.

"Why couldn't I?" Garou's tone grew solemn. "I was losing a lot of blood on my way to save a kid from the monsters. It was either die or do what must be done."

Every retort Gwen could think of died in her throat when Garou doled the severity of his side of the story.

"Oh. But, still… please don't eat that type of stuff in public." Gwen suggested, calmly. She did not want to be next to the guy that was eating a strange tentacle kebob. There was no such thing as a blue-ish octopus tentacle such as that, and such colors would indicate a high probability of poison.

"What? It's tasty." Garou smugly smirked, irking Gwen with his stubborn refusal.

"No, it's weird and gross. Just finish it up before anyone sees us."

Garou finished it with a few large bites; his cheeks puff with alien meat as he swallowed faster than she could form a retort.

"Mmm. Already did." Garou tosses the skewer to the public trash can as it landed.

She stared at his puffed cheeks as he chewed triumphantly, almost as if teasing her for his amusement.

"I-I… hah, just…" Gwen gaped in defeat, trying to regain her lost composure.

"Yep." Garou snickered.

Gwen rolled her eyes as she shook her head in defeat.

"Alright, freak. You're gonna pay for what you did." Gwen and Garou heard the gruff, impatient voice of a teenager. Attracted by the sound, the two turned around the corner. They encountered a possible mugging already in progress.

Four men surrounded another boy their age… well, bodily age. Garou was still eighteen inside. They were pinning up a kid with unkempt black hair against the wall, one arm ready to hit the kid with a face of anger. They were ganging up on the kid, defenseless and alone in the alley, something that Gwen could not stand by and let happen.

On instinct, Gwen was about to walk over to them, ready to shout and stop them with force if necessary, but she held her words when she saw Garou walking in the alley without a second thought.

His eyes were sharpened, the shape mirroring his eyes from before, now in battle mode. Gwen could feel the hostility radiating from him like an overclocked heater.

"This won't end well…" Gwen sighed as she quickly ran after him.

One of the four gangs caught the boy walking up to them. He nudged the others, grabbing their attention as they looked at the approaching kid.

"Hey, you lost or something?" One of them asked.

They looked down at the boy, not their age, who was looking up at them with a piercing glare… they admit his eyes were intensely sharp for someone his age.

"Beat it, pipsqueak. Go find your mommy." Another gang member snorted aggressively.

"I'll give you a choice. If you don't leave with your tail behind your legs, I will tear out your spine and shove it in your ass." He snarled with a vicious comeback, unbefitting his appearance.

The gang members, plus the black-haired kid and Gwen, hung their jaw at the threat. What kind of kid would say something so morbid his age? The leader of the four, wearing a cap above his brown skin, walked up to the ten-year-old brat, towering over him with a sneer.

"Look, kid, I don't know where you got your vocabulary from, but you better go home before things get ugly, you hear-OHHHHGHHS?!"

The teenager lurched forward, eyes popping out of his eyes. Gwen dropped her jaw when Garou smashed his lunging elbow into his crotch, crushing fragile thing with painful force.

"Ohhhhhhhhh…" The black-haired kid flinched at sight, watching the victim topple to the floor, hugging his man-jewels in pain.

Not only that, the boy wasn't finished. Below his chin, Garou leaped and slammed his elbow into him from below, knocking out a tooth and the whites of the lead punk's eyes. Then, as an insult to injury, Garou reached his face and slammed his head down with all his weight into it.

"Anyone else wants a piece of this?" Garou asked, daring the rest to come at him.

The remaining three looked at each other for a moment, intimidated.

"H-Hey man, we don't want no trouble." The rest of the three raised their hands in surrender, not wanting to share their friend's fate. The kid sent the message loud and clear that he did not want to play with them.

"One more time. Leave now, or I will break you like an egg. The shell will be your bones. The omelet…" He warned them again, slowly raising his fist to promise the pain that would come if they refuse.

"W-whatever you say, bro." They conceded without resistance.

Garou scoffed as he stepped off the guy's head, letting the trio grab the limp body of their leader by the legs and bolted the premises without another word.

The other boy stared at his savior, his awe-slack jaw spreading into a smile of adoration on his side.

"Woah! That was sick, dude!" The boy complimented with a broad smile, his brown eyes sparkling with wonder.

Gwen walked over to Garou

Garou sighed, rolling his shoulders. Turning around, he took a good look at him from head to toe. The boy seemed to have long black hair with blue highlights. He wore a slightly ripped black tank top and cargo shorts of the same color. Along with wristbands and black boots, the boy had a gray medallion wrapped around his neck.

"You okay?" Garou asked he caught sight of his hands. They were riddled with blisters, like those of a mechanic. As for his eyes, they looked slightly malnourished. Not only that, his attire. It reminded him of his time on the streets, alone as well.

"Yeah, thanks to you. How did you do that, man?!" The streetwise kid wondered eagerly.

"Well… I am a martial artist." Garou flexed his little boy muscles jokingly. What he didn't know was how much his efforts paid off. Despite being lithe, his arms looked… ripped, thick muscles compressed into a form with purpose. His spindly arms upgraded themselves significantly since last week through his relentless training.

"Garou!" Gwen came into view, and an annoyed scowl etched on her face. "Don't just leave me behind like that! And why'd you have to go overboard with them?! Didn't you promise to hold yourself back?!"

Garou did not make eye contact as he whistled nonchalantly, pretending that she wasn't there.

"Don't you ignore me like I'm not here!" The orange-haired wielder of the Omnitrix lashed out.

Crap, she read his mind.

"Who's this, your girlfriend?" The street boy assumed curiously, looking at Gwen's body with an unimpressed frown. Her face flushed a deep red in response to this sudden question.

"N-no. For your information, we're cousins!" Gwen huffed embarrassingly, playing with her hair as a nervous tick.

"Yeesh. Don't bite my head off, red." The stranger scoffed in annoyance, massaging his aching ears, tired of her annoying, loud voice.

"Don't mind her. So…" Garou narrowed his eyes. "Are you a mechanic by chance?" Garou asked just in case.

"Yeah… how'd you guess?" The boy stated hesitantly in surprise.

"Your hands." Garou pointed at his calloused hands. "Those are calluses usually found on workers, either construction or mechanic. I did not see any scraped skin on you, so I assumed it was the latter." He pinpointed.

Gwen and the stranger looked at Garou in surprise.

"You didn't tell me you can read people like that." Gwen retorted.

"I can do a lot of things." Garou gloated.

"Man, you know your stuff, kid! What's your name?" The street kid asked.

Offering his hand, Garou answered, "Benjamin Kirby Tennyson. But people usually call me Garou. What's yours?" Garou asked back with courtesy.

"Kevin. Kevin Levin." The boy introduced himself, taking Garou's hand in acceptance as they shook.

However, Garou noticed something wrong when he did it. Kevin, on the other hand, flinched, instantly breaking off their handshake.

"Aaahhh!" Kevin winced in pain, looking at the smoke billowing from his hand.

Garou paused, digesting the reaction in his eyes. He then understood the next moment.

"What just happened?" Gwen questioned in confusion, not spotting any noticeable injuries on Kevin to speak of.

"Something I didn't expect… Kevin, are you human?" Flexing the hand Kevin touched, Garou asked, curious about his ability. He felt something tingling the moment their skin made contact. It was a completely alien feeling, so he could only assume.

"Um, yeah." Kevin sheepishly rubbed his head as he hissed a little from the pain. Garou could see the steam rising from Kevin's hand, something abnormally heated.

"But I am kind of a special case, you see." He waved his steaming hand around for emphasis.

"What'd you try to do to me?" Garou asked, wondering what Kevin did to react like that.

"Ack, uhhh, I don't know. That only happens when I absorb large amounts of energy. I've had that power ever since I was born." Kevin explained truthfully, not even knowing the origins of his absorption abilities himself.

"Hoh?" Garou then asked, "So you used your power to test whether I'm human or not?"

Understandable given Garou's unique situation.

"Kind of? You just took down a guy five years older than you like he was nothing. And your 'martial arts' were pretty freaky looking."

"He has a point." Gwen agreed somewhat.

"Hahahaha!" Garou laughed, liking Kevin already. "Yeah, but it's the truth. It is all pure technique. What you saw was years of culminating hard work." Garou smiled, finding another interesting thing the moment they arrived.

"Man, you need to show me! I could stea-" Kevin caught himself before he could reveal his true intentions. "I-I mean do so much with that."

"Hm? Like defending yourself?" Garou tilted his head, his eyes narrowing slightly with suspicion.

"Yeah. A lot of people don't seem to like me all that much. I've been living on the streets for quite a while." Kevin frowned in the recollection of his shaky upbringing.

"By yourself?" Gwen gasped in disbelief.

"...so you don't have a place to call home?" Garou asked. He reminded Garou of himself somewhat, but at this age… it was only sad.

"Well, I have this hangout in the subway. It's messy, but I manage alright." Kevin scratched the back of his head, feeling a bit self-conscious.

"That is a base. It is not a home." Garou corrected him. "Were you abandoned here in the streets? How'd you end up here?" Garou asked.

"Nah. My step-dad is a pain, so I ran away. I couldn't handle it anymore." Kevin hatefully growled as he furrowed his black eyebrows.

"Oh." Garou nodded, accepting his reason. "I can relate." his parents were ignorant, worse. They betrayed him for common ideals.

"That's so… so selfish! What about your mom? Don't you care about her?" Gwen argued against Kevin's actions, already having some semblance of maternal instincts.

"Tsk. Who asked you? It's none of your business, so butt out, princess." Kevin spat irritably, getting up in Gwen's personal space with an accusatory point.

"Hey! Garou!" Gwen turned to him to talk some sense into Kevin.

"...I ran away too, once." Garou looked up to the sky. "Years ago, I did."

"Really?" Gwen and Kevin replied in unison, pausing to frown at each other with crossed arms.

"Yeah. How'd you think I ended up living in a dojo for so long in the first place?" Garou asked Gwen.

She blinked, her mouth opening and closing at speechless intervals. She did not think that he abandoned his parents; she thought he was an orphan.

"I just assumed you were raised there. My mistake." Gwen apologized in momentary embarrassment.

"Yeah… don't worry about it. I did it for myself more than for them." Garou shook his head.

"What did you do?" Kevin inquired with great interest.

"I climbed a mountain," Garou replied.

""...eh?""

The two pictured a young boy less than ten climbing up a mountain. On foot…

"Holy crap! That is… hardcore." Kevin gasped in amazement, his smile getting even bigger as he learned more about this kid.

"Yeah. It is hard… core…" Garou smacked his lips. He was not used to slang, now that he thought about it.

"How'd you do it?" Gwen asked, almost whispering with a hand raised.

"There were stairs leading to the dojo. But it doesn't change the fact that the mountain is still high as hell." Garou reminded the pain that will remain.

"So, are we talking Everest height or…" Kevin gestured with his finger pointing up.

Garou's brain shut down a little when he heard 'Everest.' He had no idea what an Everest was, but he would not specify.

Knowing his poor knowledge of Earth's geography, Gwen leaned over to Garou's ear.

"Everest is the highest mountain in this world. It's about 29,029 feet tall." Gwen whispered informingly with a hand clasped over the side of her mouth.

"Oh… let's just say a working adult can't get there without bathing in their sweat. Kids around my age aren't allowed to get there, usually," Garou informed.

"Sounds pretty epic. I wish I could pull off a stunt like that." Kevin wistfully pictured himself pulling off the same feat.

"Yeah…" It was a shame. He wanted to see if Kevin and Gwen could make the trek. He imagined Gwen dropping face down on the dirt while Kevin panting with all life drained from his eyes.

"Could be interesting to see you all become dry prunes," Garou smirked.

As they chattered in the alley, screams suddenly filled the streets. The sound of metal clanking on pavement got louder and louder as a strange being approached the alleyway into their view. It was a robotic automaton with four yellow and brown legs, each producing cracks in the road as their owner walked. Its left arm had a giant crab claw where a hand should be, a gray nozzle concealed in between both pincers. The robot also had small yellow eyes and a hexagonal faceplate. It scanned the surrounding area, attempting to spot a particular object of abnormally high energy. Then, its optic lenses zoomed in on Gwen's wrist.

"The Omnitrix…"

* * *

**I hope you guys like the prewritten/redacted chapter. The reason why Garou met Kevin in that situation was that he was a day earlier than in canon. I also made Garou had his conversation with Gwen like that because he has lost most of his cockiness after Saitama beat the crap out of him, physically and psychologically, allowing him to open up a little with Gwen. That and another factor which I will not divulge. Let me know what you guys think at least.**


	4. Chapter 4: Plus One

**Well, ladies and gents, I have a p atreon account. I decided to see if I can motivate myself to amping my production. I hope to see you there as well as I continue writing content in these strange times.**

**p atreon/I4MD347H**

* * *

The android, layered in bronze yellow, tread on four legs, crab-like and blunt on each end. Its voice box was predominantly male, its tone synthetic yet coarse, as the lens of its visor focused in on the wristwatch's green hourglass.

"Hah! Are you serious?!" The crab bot laughed upon looking at Gwen. "Easiest bounty I ever made."

Poising his crab arm at Gwen, energy gathering at the focal point between the pincers, he shot a stream of burning orange at the girl. However, sliding between Gwen and it, Garou interposed the beam and, with a swing, deflected it with his hand as it blasted a crumbling hole in the wall.

"Whoa, whoa!" Kevin shouted, stumbling back, astonished by Garou's feat.

"Thanks!" Gwen quickly stepped back as she prepared her Omnitrix, cycling through the aliens one by one until she spotted Four Arms and struck the dial.

"Four Arms!" She shouted in her alien form, flexing all four of her crimson arms before the assailant.

The metal crab looked at the group, the kid that deflected his lasers with his bare hands, and then at the hole in the wall.

"...I had to use my big mouth." The crustacean groaned as he aimed at Four Arms.

"I call first dibs!" Four Arms shouted, but before she could jump at the assailant, Garou raised his hand and stopped her in her tracks.

"Denied."

"Thanks, I… what?" Four-Arms blinked her four eyes at Garou.

It was the first time he turned her down despite their nurtured relationship regarding the rights to fight the bad guys so far.

"You heard me. I got something cool to show Kevin."

With a smirk, Garou walked over to the oversized bronze crab, rolling his shoulders one after the other with a confident gait. The attacker narrowed its lenses at the approaching kid, raising its pincer arm at the kid.

"Human or freak, I don't know but I don't care, but I'm not here for you. Hand over the Omnitrix or there will be trouble." The cyborg crab threatened with a rapid clench of his pincers.

"Omni… trix?" Four-Arms caught notice of that word and looked down at the dial on her muscular chest. By this point, they had faced nothing but killer robots or random encounters with the strange and majorly criminal elements of their world. None of them so far mentioned the object that fell from the stars and latched onto her wrist.

Garou looked back at Gwen and Kevin. He decided to show them something interesting… strange. He never wanted to show off before. Either way, he needed to stretch his limbs. Sitting in a vehicle for hours of inaction was not healthy for his body.

"Hey, Kevin," Garou called out. "Wanna see something cool?"

"Like what? Blocking a frickin' laser and your cousin becoming a freak is hard to top!" Kevin stated hyperactively, blown away by the sudden happenings. Confused, but indeed excited by the twist of events.

"About that…" Garou smiled. Behind the assailant. Keven and Four-Arms blinked. When did he appear behind it? At one point, he was before the crab man, next second without them noticing, Garou was behind him without warning.

"Here, let me pass through for a second."

At the first word of Garou's sentence, the bronze crab fell apart in a spectacularly loud fall, every limb of the metal crustacean rested beside Garou's feet, warped metal stumps replacing where its arms and legs were before.

In his hand, Garou held something. It was the giant claw arm from the assailant.

"Aaaaaaaagh?!" The victim squalled.

The owner of said limbs crashed on his face, flailing in panic like a fish on dry land.

"Not gonna lie, this is my first time preparing a crab this big. Kinda metallic, too," Garou finished off, his lines eliciting a groan from Four-Arms.

"How can a human be able to move this fast?! What are you?! Some kind of Kineceleran hybrid?!" The mechanical crab grunted but failed as he had lost every part of his features.

Garou turned to the metal crab, throwing away his primary arm. Looking at Gwen and Kevin, he wriggled his eyebrows as he relished their reactions. Four-arms couldn't help but giggle at his attempt to show off.

"Holy crap…" Kevin, on the other hand, was sparkling with wonder. What he saw was probably the coolest thing in his life.

"Okay... gotta admit, that was definitely cool." Gwen admitted. She wondered if she could mimic that with XLR8.

"Hey, at least we have some food in case we get hungry. Kevin, you have a can opener?" Garou gestured to the canned food on the ground.

"Yeah, why?" Kevin asked in knowing mischief, sharing Garou's desire to break the alien man open and see his insides.

"What?! Don't even think about it, flesh bags!" The cyborg alien warned assertively, trying his hardest to wiggle away somehow.

"Oh? Afraid we're gonna see your soft parts, little crab?" Garou wriggled his eyebrow, insinuating his intentions.

Gwen pursed her lips and shook her head like a highly disappointed mother, "Garou, as amusing as this is, I think this is crossing some lines."

"Hey, this is an interrogation. Either he talks, or we crack him open. Besides, he knows the thing on your wrist more than we do." Garou tapped on his wrist for emphasis.

"That's true…" She could not deny that. For once, someone who knew of the device on her wrist arrived, and the only one that knew of it was at Garou's mercy.

"But that doesn't mean we should torture it. We're heroes, right?" Gwen rebuked.

"How else are you going to get him to talk? Bribery? You not expecting him to talk if we said sorry, are we?" Kevin asked. "Besides, I could take some nifty gadgets from this guy and see if I can sell it for a pretty penny."

"This is high tech alien stuff, Kevin! We can't simply take it and sell it! Right, Garou?" Gwen asked.

Garou did not answer back, merely staring at the fallen crab bot for a moment.

"...Garou?"

"Hm? Ah, right. Though I do want to take a souvenir… maybe that laser claw." Garou muttered.

Gwen was not amused, "Really?"

"Oh yeah, definitely the laser claw," Kevin supported.

"No! Definitely not that!"

"I am tempted for some reason when I see the laser claw," Garou admitted. There was something in him compelling him to take the scrap but he didn't know why. He simply could not disagree with the appeal of having futuristic alien tech in his possession. Was it because of his current young age?

"NO! Where will it even fit in the Rust Bucket?! I-agh?!"

Out of nowhere, a purple-suited figure dropped down from the sky and grabbed onto Gwen. He had a black visor with four pink lines extending from each corner, painted the same color as his massive shoulder pads. Attached to the mysterious individual's back was a gray jetpack that granted him the ability to fly.

"Gyaaah! Garou!" Gwen screamed fearfully, seething in pain from the alien being's vice-like grip.

"Finally! Took you long enough, Sixsix." The downed crab cyborg mused in an impatient tone.

Sixsix immediately stepped back as Garou hoisted the crab's leg, holding it like a javelin while glaring daggers into the one called Sixsix. A series of strange clicks and warbles came out of Sixsix's visor instead of normal speech like his colleague with a tinge of spite, wiggling around Gwen's entrapped wrist for emphasis.

"So what if you got the goods? Help me get out of here! You got the hostage!"

"Go ahead and try if you want to find his leg in your brain," Garou warned, already aiming for Sixsix's head.

The armored alien called Sixsix warbled as something projected from its armor around from its left thigh, showing a compartment holding a cylindrical handle. Once it took the device, a laser blade of scarlet flared to life near Gwen's neck.

Their gazes clashed, eyes sparking a deadlock of spite and daring.

Meanwhile, Kevin darted his eyes between Garou and Sixsix. He looked at him and then at his hands, then back at Sixsix. On the one hand, he could run away and leave them for dead… but on the other hand, he could do something for them.

"What are you standing there for, Sixsix?! Cut the girl's arm off, and let's bounce with the watch!" The crab shouted with narrowed optics. Gwen's skin paled a sickly white at this suggestion.

Sixsix garbled back in random gibberish, anger present in its voice.

"Alright, I admit I got careless, but seriously, mutant or not, he's still a human!"

"Garou, please!" Gwen yelled out desperately as Sixsix garbled back at them.

While they were not looking at him, Kevin ran towards Sixsix and tackled the armored alien, locking his arms around its waist as he performed his magic.

"You owe me for this!" Kevin shouted as a stream of blue energy permeated around Kevin's body, the power of Sixsix's advanced suit coursing through his veins.

Sixsix shrilled in garbles of vocal panic, raising his laser sword to slash at Kevin's head. However, before it swung, something rammed through his hand and dragged him down the alleyway away from Kevin until it struck the wall and dropped Gwen as she tumbled mid-flight.

Garou looked at Sixsix as his faux spear pulled it away from Kevin and pinned it to the wall.

"You idiot! Don't let her use the watch!" Kraab cried out in anger. This inadvertently gave Gwen the idea to perform said action as she picked herself off the ground.

Sixsix shouted back as he grabbed the pike and struggled to yanked it off his other hand. Kevin, twitching slightly from the intake of new power, observed his body for any noticeable changes.

"What do you mean the Osmosian crippled your weapon system?!"

Kevin did not know what they were talking about nor did he care. All he knew was that he was high on alien energy, and he was about to kick some butt. He ran towards Sixsix, grinning as he pulled back his right arm.

"Hey, tin face!" Kevin shouted as he punched Sixsix clean across the face. His empowered fist broke through the alien's suit; the impact completely shattered Sixsix's faceplate.

Sixsix convulsed in immense pain, parts of his true appearance becoming more visible. He seemed to be an ugly gray creature with sharp teeth and insectoid eyes.

"I!" Kevin punched. "Hope!" He punched some more. "You like!" He broke almost all of Sixsix's visor, and he was still pinned down by the hand. "A bloody! Knuckle! Sandwich!"

Sixsix was practically close to passing out, the breathing apparatus built within his suit beginning to fail. Slobber was starting to ooze out of his broken jaw as well.

"Are you frickin serious?!" The crab thrashed around, rolling left and right, trying to get away from the kids, but before he could gain ground, he felt someone stepping on his metal body.

"Not so fast, tin can," Gwen declared, smiling victoriously over the android.

"Agh, damn it all! This is just not my day!"

Meanwhile, Kevin continued beating on Sixsix, until he felt a hand stopping him. He turned around, seeing Garou holding his shoulder.

"Stop. You've won." Garou gestured to the sorry state of Sixsix.

Kevin blinked as he looked at Sixsix again, seeing the alien bleeding and bruised.

"Oh… Oh." Kevin could feel his heart still pumping with energy. He slowly lowered his fist as he tried to calm himself.

"But you did well." Garou smiled. "For a street punk."

Kevin couldn't help but scoff at his remark.

"Hey, I've been in street fights! Well, I'm not as good as you, but I still have room to level up!" Kevin joked back.

As they chattered, another voice interjected their conversation from above.

"Impressive. You Earthlings really do know how to make a mess of things." A deep, booming voice came from the sky. Riding on top of a hoverboard, a third alien of a much bigger stature descended from the heavens. He wore a gray suit of armor with black boots and shoulder-pads, his face concealed by a large helmet. He also only seemed to have one glowing green eye in the mask's centermost point.

"Oh, Tetrax! Quick, get us out of here!" The crab shouted, wriggling around in protest, wanting to escape from this hellscape.

Kevin clenched his knuckles, ready for a fight. Garou entered his stance, ready to add another victim to his win-streak.

"Oh! Dibs! No excuses!" Gwen shouted, priming her watch… or Omnitrix, whatever they called it, and prepared to press down on her selected alien. She had watched from the sidelines as Garou took one guy down, and Kevin took down the second. She refused to lag behind the scoreboard and not kick alien butt.

"You are mistaken, Kraab. While I am surprised that you and Sixsix somehow fell, in the end, the bounty was never ours to share." The alien called Tetrax expressed.

The three kids were confused. Did they have a falling out?

"You double-crossing son of a slagmarite! I will-"

Tetrax ignored the bounty hunter's stream of insults, walking towards Gwen's current position as intended.

"Who are you?" Gwen asked as she was about to hit the dial at the slightest provocation.

Garou inspected the bulky figure from head to toe. If he was anything like Darkshine, Garou could still break him down. Just in case, he picked up another one of the crab robot's legs and pulled back.

"I am known as Tetrax." The armored alien introduced himself. "I was sent here to retrieve the Omnitrix before it fell into the wrong hands. However, it seems I'm too late."

"Make one wrong move, and we will shred you like him!" Gwen shouted, pointing at the limbless bronze android.

Tetrax glanced back at the heavily wounded Kraab and Sixsix for a moment before switching his focus back to the children.

"None of you are injured, correct?" Tetrax asked in minor concern, his features concealed under his mask.

Garou, Kevin, and Gwen looked at each other and then back at him, confused by his question regarding their safety.

"Dude. We just kicked their butt. I'm pretty sure we can take you on, big guy." Kevin boasted as he raised his fist, ready for another brawl.

"I simply felt obligated to ask. Those two were some of the most ruthless bounty hunters in the entire galaxy. It's quite an anomaly by human standards." Tetrax emphasized in a monotone.

"...you aren't with them, are you?" Garou asked, taking a shot in the dark.

It was rare for a group of villains to have a falling out in front of innocents. Even rarer when one of them was a double agent hiding within their ranks.

"No. They, however, thought otherwise, even though we are competitors." Tetrax revealed, gesturing to Kraab's and Sixsix's injured bodies.

The three relaxed their guard, but still ready to fight as they stood before a stranger with unknown intentions. Garou wasn't sure what he wanted. Gwen was nervous and excited, finally able to learn the origins of the device on her wrist. Kevin… he was just along for the ride, spectating with interest.

"Could… could you tell me about the watch then?" Gwen awkwardly wondered, holding up her wrist so that Tetrax could see it. Within his mask, the alien's face darkened somewhat at the sight of the hourglass dial.

"It is indeed your right to know what fate dragged you in. The device on your wrist is a highly advanced biotransformer that contains the DNA of all extraterrestrial life in the known universe. It shouldn't be in the hands of a naive child." Tetrax summarized intently, sharing only the most necessary information.

"""What?""" The trio uttered at the same time.

The word 'DNA of every life' in the known universe shattered all expectations. Garou was convinced that it was a transformation device, but not one with options of such a universal scale.

"All… all of the aliens in the universe," Gwen coughed with widened eyes, looking down at the Omnitrix in awe with hyperventilating breathes as the possibilities opened before her eyes.

"Yes, but neither you, nor anyone, was meant to possess it. Whatever you did to obtain it, it was an unintentional error." Tetrax accused harshly, pointing his finger at Gwen's comparably small figure.

"And I'm here to fix that," Tetrax stated, approaching Gwen with an outstretched hand.

"Are you…" Gwen reflexively pulled her watch back in defense.

"You'll have to come with me. The Omnitrix has bonded to your genetic structure. It cannot be removed by simple means, so I must bring you with me to my ship."

He had come to take her watch away. Gwen looked at the Omnitrix, remembering all the good she did with it on her hands. As a logical girl, Gwen could not deny Tetrax's logic, having more experience and familiarity with the Omnitrix than she did.

But…

She did not want to let it go. No, she refused to believe that she could not be worthy of it. She may not have the proper knowledge or insight to the risks and functions of the alien device, but she would not accept that she did not have the potential to master it.

"No way! I've done nothing, but good with this watch, and I'm not just giving it up that easily!" Gwen yelled as she protectively rested a hand on her wrist.

Tetrax did not respond for a moment, merely staring at her in contemplation.

"Your kind is not ready for this level of technology. By right, it is not yours to keep." Tetrax slightly raised his booming voice.

"I'll… I'll prove it then!" Gwen stammered, remembering the time Garou challenged her to spar. If she did not have the right, then she would fight for it.

"I challenge you to a duel! Winner takes the Omnitrix by right of combat!" Gwen growled in active defiance, her temper dominating the more logical side of her brain.

Tetrax continued staring at her. Despite his metallic helm covering his countenance, the three could sense a tinge of surprise behind the mask.

"A duel? Aren't you too young to gamble by combat?" Tetrax asked, amused by her issue.

"So what if I am? Come on, afraid to lose to a girl?"

Kevin whistled at her brazenness. He had to admit; she had guts.

"Interesting dare for a child. Very well. But to affirm your logic, if you come out the loser, then all further arguments will be annulled," Tetrax accepted with a nod.

He then scanned the damaged alleyway and his rival hunters, the green light glazing the environ.

"However, we will do it outside of the city. The less these humans see, the better." Tetrax ordered authoritatively, deploying his green hoverboard once more.

"Deal." Gwen nodded, burning figurative holes in Tetrax's head.

"I'm starting to like her more and more," Kevin admitted with a pleased grin.

"I think I am rubbing off on her a little too much." Garou wasn't sure if she was taking reference from his actions so far, resorting to combat first and negotiation second.

Before heading out, Tetrax took out a strange weapon from within his jumpsuit. It was a small handheld gun with a glowing generated in the center.

"Do something for me, first. Gather Sixsix and place him by Kraab." Tetrax exclaimed, staring at Kevin and Garou's general direction.

"Hm?"

Garou and Kevin looked at each other for a moment before they shrugged.

"Alright. We need to clean them up anyways." Garou walked to Sixsix and, with a careless yank, pulled the brutalized Sixsix from the wall, tearing out the cybernetic arm in the process. Tendrils of sinewy wires and crumbling circuits bled from the stump as Garou dragged him towards Krab and dumped it next to the limbless one. Sixsix groaned in its bloodied slumber atop of Krab's optics.

"I hate this planet…" Kraab grumbled to himself in annoyance. Tetrax then fired the digitized cube at both galactic criminals. The projectile hit the ground and grew in height and width, trapping the two inside of it before shrinking back to normal.

"I'll bring them to the proper authorities once we're finished," Tetrax explained, picking up the small cube and gently placing it back in his pocket.

"Huh…" Garou whistled, impressed with the defiance of physics.

As far as he knew, there was nothing like that was possible back home. The more he saw advanced alien tech, the more interested he grew.

"Let us go. Attention is starting to spread the longer we're here." Tetrax referred to the possible crowd of onlookers that will congregate the longer they stay.

The armor-clad alien then flew on his hoverboard to the furthest edge of the city. Garou, Gwen, and Kevin followed close by.

* * *

Privacy was abundant in New York's outskirts. Abandoned warehouses left to rust, ripe for criminals or other unsavory elements to take shelter unnoticed by the masses. Dark minds festered in these territories, and gang wars fought continuously in the silent background as the world moved forward, unseen like a following shadow.

In one of these warehouses, Tetrax and Gwen stood athwart the other, with Garou and Kevin on the sidelines. Kevin at atop of an empty crate while Garou stood with his arms crossed, his gaze now critically sharp as he called out.

"Allow me to show my face." Tetrax pressed a button on the side of his neck. His helmet retracted backward, revealing a face Garou and Gwen were quite familiar with.

"You're… a Zirconia?!" Gwen gasped in surprise, taking an instinctive step backward.

"I believe you mean 'Petrosapien.' However, I am the last of my kind." Tetrax informed as if it weren't a big deal. His dark green eyes examined Gwen's form, waiting for her to make a move.

"Whoa. What are the odds?" Garou widened his eyes at the thought. Of all the aliens that existed in the universe, Tetrax had to be one of the ten in Gwen's watch. Garou smirked. She held an advantage.

"Remember your training! You should already know how to fight against Zirconia from me!" Garou shouted, his version of a supportive cheer. He found it strange for him to cheer for someone else, but… he shrugged the thought.

"Right!" Gwen stated confidently, slamming her palm on the watch's dial. Green crystals extended from within the watch and covered Gwen's entire skin, converting her eyes into glowing yellow gemstones. She wore a dark and light blue jumpsuit, the size of her arms growing larger in conjunction.

"Poor choice. Do you even know my species' weaknesses?" Tetrax critiqued, holding his hoverboard in hand as a makeshift weapon of sorts.

"Biologically? No." Zirconia shook her head. She clapped her hands together, smirking, but when she separated them, she was pulling a chain of ultradense crystal out of her hand, which ended in a sickle. "But, I do know how to take you on."

Tetrax's eyes widened for a moment, surprised by her ingenuity.

"Hm, interesting…" Tetrax muttered, somewhat impressed by this sophisticated weapon.

"Hehe." Gwen threw up the sickle and then twirled it by the chain, circling a pivot of growing momentum above her head. It looked like she formed a helicopter blade overhead.

"Think fast." Tetrax shot a barrage of smaller crystals from his palm, aiming directly for Gwen's midsection while she was distracted.

However, beneath Gwen's feet, a crystal pillar erupted and launched her into the air.

"I think ahead!" Gwen spun in a corkscrew revolution and threw her chain sickle, with all of her weight channeled into her weapon. The reaping blade sliced through the air in its flight, faster than Tetrax expected from a fellow Petrosapien.

"Clever," Tetrax whispered to himself with an amused smirk. He almost took back his words that Gwen was unworthy.

However, like a baseball bat, Tetrax smashed the tip of his hoverboard into the sickle's crystalline blade. He wasn't nicked by the attack but was still discombobulated by the knockback of leftover shrapnel.

However, behind the blade, when it covered his sight at that moment, he saw a volley of crystal shards flying towards him the moment he rebounded her weapon.

'She followed up with a crystal barrage when the sickle hid her in that brief moment?' Tetrax rolled backward to dodge, but the surprise attack still hit part of his body.

Gwen caught her sickle as she landed, throwing all her weight downwards as she continued her relentless assault. As Garou said, she needed to learn from his experience. During their spare time, they spent quite a lot of time practicing her aliens.

"Eat thiiiis! Crystal Wave!" Gwen shouted as she slammed her hand into the concrete, throwing an explosive wave of growing crystal towards the struck Tetrax.

"You'll have to do better than that!" Tetrax shouted powerfully, throwing out a similar implosion of emerald that was about to collide with Gwen's.

The immensely powerful constructs crashed into each other, sending out a massive shockwave that affected both combatants. Broken pieces of green diamond flew in all sorts of directions at high speeds, embedding themselves in the warehouse's surrounding walls. Some were heading for Kevin and Garou as they watched from the sidelines.

"Whoa!" Kevin rolled back, dropping behind the crate.

Garou, on the other hand, casually swatted the shards away as he watched unflinchingly.

Tetrax caught a shimmer around the corner of his eyes, his warrior's instinct forcing him to duck as he caught sight of the flying sickle flying, passing where his neck was before, as it wrapped around the pile of their diamonds.

"RAHHHHHHHH!" Emerging from where the chain came behind the mound, Zirconia appeared, reeling herself towards Tetrax's position using the chain to pull her bulky form, kicking off the pile and launching herself towards Tetrax as she abandoned her weapon. While in midair, her two arms reformed into the standard blades, sharpened to cut metal and stone with ease.

It was a primitive method of transportation, but Tetrax must admit its ingenuity and convenience were genii.

"You're quite familiar with my kind's lack of mobility." Tetrax admirably complimented as he moved his head to the side to dodge Gwen's fierce stab.

"Not that hard to figure out." Gwen shrugged, still slashing at the more experienced Petrosapien. Tetrax used his hoverboard as a shield, struggling to block it efficiently.

"But how did you come up with this tactic? I am sure you humans don't rely on weapons of old, especially at your age," Tetrax asked, openly admiring her creativity as she continued to strike at his openings with growing efficiency.

"I have a great teacher!" Gwen boasted with pride as she successfully smacked the hoverboard out of Tetrax's hands. This left the Petrosapien vulnerable to a swift swipe of Gwen's feet, knocking him down back-first.

"Oof!" Tetrax grunted in slight pain, his weight leaving a noticeable imprint on the floor.

Immediately, Gwen formed two large crystal hooks and slammed them on Tetrax's arms before he could raise them, not to cut them off, but to clamp them to the floor as she climbed atop of the helpless Tetrax with her sword-arm poised at his throat. She was panting hard, but her Petrosapien heart pounded with growing pride as she stood victorious over the veteran.

"Do you… surrender?" Gwen asked exhaustedly, increasing the pressure on Tetrax's throat. Tetrax, his mouth wide open from shock, simply nodded his head, knowing when to concede.

"Heh… hahaha." Tetrax laughed as Gwen got off of him. "I didn't think you would win even when I was holding back… I admit the brashness of my judgment and rescind my previous statement."

He felt a sense of… relief in his crystal chest despite being beaten by a child. It was a refreshing feeling, something he didn't think he would encounter in this world.

"I knew Azmuth made the right call using my genes." Tetrax chuckled as he helped himself off the floor, shattering the hooks off his arms with some effort.

"Wait… Zirconia came from you?" Gwen wondered with widened yellow orbs.

"I did mention I'm the last of my kind, didn't I?" Tetrax shrugged coyly. He then picked up his discarded hoverboard, inspecting for any present damage.

Kevin was watching from behind the crate, left in awe by the finale.

"Dude…" Kevin looked at Garou. "That was frickin awesome."

Garou simply gave him a sideways glance. "Heh, I've seen better."

"There's better? You gotta show me this 'better' later."

As they chattered, Tetrax walked up to Zirconia as he brushed the dust off his armor.

"I'll admit, girl. That was one of the most entertaining fights I have had in years. I miss sparring with my own race."

Gwen smirked. Hearing this, she had a wicked idea in mind.

"If you think that was fun, how about giving my cousin a go?" Gwen suggested, gesturing a crystallized thumb towards her 'cousin.'

"Oh… oh, he is so screwed." Kevin smiled wider, starting to like Gwen more and more.

Oblivious to the danger, Tetrax appraised the brown-haired boy with a cursory glance.

"Are you sure that's wise? You humans are pretty fragile." Tetrax argued.

"Please, I insist. You'll not regret it." She nodded very entreatingly, her smile the widest she made this summer.

Garou snickered as he walked forth, deciding to entertain Gwen's mischief.

"Ok... uh… Garou, let's-" Tetrax looked around to see that no one was in front of him.

"Here. Let me pass through for a second."

In that instant, Garou already walked past Tetrax. Tetrax only heard Garou's soft voice when he endured thirteen blows to his shoulders, knees, neck, and face.

Tetrax could not scream or cry out. One of the blows struck his Petrosapien vocal cords. His crystalline body even cracked under his blows, all strength at that moment bleeding out dry as he fell to his knees, speechless and riddled with cracks.

Tetrax was starting to understand as he pieced it together. He wondered how the younglings managed to defeat the bounty hunters without using the Omnitrix. That boy was the reason! And…

"Y-you… how… you knew t-that was going to happen, didn't you?" Tetrax moaned painfully. Mentally, he was thanking whatever god out there that Garou didn't get the Omnitrix.

"Pffffffffffffff, ahahahahahahahaha! Oh, my stomach! Ahahahahahahaha! That was priceless!" Kevin pointed a finger at Tetrax as he laughed in tears.

Gwen slowly joined the laughter as she covered her mouth, snickering at Tetrax's current state.

"M-May… may you help me up? I think… you broke my joints. I can't move…" Tetrax mumbled in embarrassment, his legs and arms bent into a pretzel as he toppled down like a stringless puppet. The boy managed to disable all of his joints with the strength of a falling meteorite and the speed of a Kinecelaran.

What was the boy? Was he human? How the hell was he so fast? Or was that some unique form of teleportation? These were the questions that ran through his head as he laid there, wracked in newfound agony.

* * *

"So, who's this Azmuth you talked about?"

Gwen asked Tetrax, who Garou was dragging outside by the foot. Kevin was still snickering at Tetrax, finding Garou's way of dragging his victims too hilarious to cease.

"Simply put, he's the inventor of the Omnitrix and one of the most brilliant minds in the entire galaxy," Tetrax recalled with the utmost respect.

"Really?" Garou looked back. "I thought the maker was some mad scientist or something…"

"Well, technically, you're not wrong…" Tetrax reiterated. "All geniuses at the level of Azmuth's intellect can be considered strange."

"Huh. Well, the more you know." Garou continued dragging him out but realized that he did it without direction.

"What does he look like?" Gwen wondered, trying to imagine some super powerful, god-like entity.

"He's a Galvan. It should be one of the options on your watch." Tetrax struggled to inform. Hearing this, Gwen scrolled through the options on her watch.

"What's a Galvan? An alien with an oversized brain?" Garou asked, his image was someone with a head the size of a giant centipede.

"Well, you're not truly inaccurate…" Tetrax trailed off.

"Is it this one?" Gwen pointed to the shadow of a frog-headed figure with skinny legs and arms. Curious, she popped open the dial and slammed down. In a flash of green, she seemed to vanish before Garou's and Kevin's very eyes completely.

"Huh? Where'd she go?" A highly confused Kevin asked, moving his head around in all directions.

Garou was also confused as well. However, his dynamic vision caught something moving as he whipped his head down, scanning for the source.

Garou squinted his eyes, catching sight of the diminutive form of a tiny gray thing as it gazed back with its frog-like eyes. Looking closer, Garou spotted a familiar green dial, one drastically downsized to fit its frame.

"... Gwen?" Garou could only guess.

"...hello." She squeaked as she frigidly waved her hand. Garou wasn't sure if it was because of the distance or that it was the alien voice itself.

Kevin turned to the squeak and trailed Garou's line of sight until his eyes landed on the small, little bug frog.

"Wait. Wow. Are you telling me that the one who made that watch was this small thing?" Kevin asked, pointing at the bug-sized alien.

"The size of Galvans might not be much, but their intelligence rivals those of planets'." Tetrax simply replied.

Now Garou was intrigued. Time to test the intelligence of a supergenius.

"Hey, what's the square root of infinity?" Garou teased.

"Well, actually, that is an improbable equation. Infinity would result in infinity, no matter what." Gwen corrected knowledgeably.

Kevin and Garou looked at Gwen with eyes, emptied by disappointment.

"Tsk. I was hoping to get a better answer." Garou clicked his tongue. "Another question, how fast am I?"

Another test

"Approximately four hundred miles past the speed of light." Gwen estimated off the top of her head.

Garou's smirk turned into a defeated frown. Garou did not think that she could answer that.

"Wait, how can you tell?" Smart did not mean perceptive.

"Simple. I first recollected your initial placement when fighting Kraab and then calculated how long it took to get past him. Since you weren't visible, I estimated that it was about 0.0000000001 seconds long, which is, to say, four times faster than it would take to turn on a flashlight. Although I suspect you might be faster given the casual nature of your attack," Gwen explained, speaking super fast due to the intake of information.

Kevin and Garou stared at the tiny Gwen in stunned silence. The latter was surprised to hear a close numerical reflection of his speed. The first was gawping that Garou was even that fast.

"...you can move faster than light?" Kevin uttered. "I'm pretty sure that is something a human cannot do."

Garou scrunched his lips in return to that statement. "Yes, they can. I know another guy that can pull that off, and he's human."

Kevin and Tetrax stared at him with skepticism.

"Hey, shorty. Is he human?" Kevin asked Gwen now that they have a professional analyzer.

"Partially. Theoretically, I suspect he is about 50% human and 50% of some unidentifiable creature. However, he is most likely a mutant based on his genetic code. Do you have human parents, might I ask?" Gwen lectured with squinted green eyes.

Garou scowled at the mention of his parents.

"...yes. They're human," Garou confirmed.

"Most peculiar. Is the science of your world as advanced as this one? Any mutagenic-related experiments?" Gwen interrogated, hypothesizing about nuclear reactors and the influence of radiation.

"Yes. We have Geico meters and such. And I am sure I was not experimented on. I grew up in the Dojo, remember? Besides, there is a man even stronger than I am where I am from," Garou informed.

"Really?" Kevin asked.

"Ah yes. The Caped Baldy as you simply put." Gwen hummed to herself, stroking her smooth, gray chin.

"Caped Baldy?" Tetrax listened in, curiosity filling his tone.

"Not important. Anyhow, maybe I could try dissecting your own DNA. I might need to find a scalpel…" Gwen wondered aloud, her thoughts starting to get a little sidetracked.

"If you want blood, I don't think a scalpel would work." Garou retorted. He was sure blades of steel couldn't cut him at this point.

"Hmmm, a syringe should work then. I'll have to ask grandpa to stop by the hospital." Gwen made a mental note, intending to use her small size to sneak in.

"So… uh… what are you going to call this alien anyway?" Kevin attempted to divert the conversation before it got too complicated.

"Midget frog?" Garou suggested with a mischievous smile.

Gwen placed her hands on her hips, pouting at Garou.

"Ah, yes, you name your aliens. Isn't it a bit childish?" Tetrax sighed, wondering if Azmuth would feel offended by this practice.

"Hey! The names are cool… and categorization is needed to avoid confusion. I got this watch without a manual, you know? I only know like three aliens so far by their exact name, so don't force your biases on me because you have the advantage of prior knowledge." Gwen defended her desire to name her forms.

"Whoa, whoa, easy there, little one. No need to get aggressive," Tetrax apologized.

"Hmph!" Gwen puffed out her chest with sass.

Strangely, Gwen looked cuter in this form - as a small animal. The kind he could not help but tease.

"So, what are you going to name her?" Garou hoped she would stick with midget.

"Hmmm how about… Grey Matter!" Gwen cheered triumphantly, patting herself on the back of her creativity.

Garou tilted his head for a moment. "...oh."

Grey matter. Of course, the alternative word for the matter that comprised the brain.

"You chose a name just to boast your smarts?" Garou asked.

"Of course I would. I am one thousand percent sure you would do the same to boast your might. Tell me, what is the name of the original martial art you made?" Grey Matter pointed at Garou, smirking with confidence.

"You made your own martial art? What's it called?" Kevin asked, now curious to know.

Unable to retort, Garou's lips quivered for a moment before he sighed.

"...Monster Calamity God Slayer fist…"

"Your penchant for names is even worse than my own. It only bolsters the fact that your stupidity knows no bounds." Gwen rolled her eyes.

Garou narrowed his eyes into a glare at her. It seemed that her transformation granted her a massive ego, consequently.

"I was in battle. I overcame Death at my lowest point and rose from the dirt with more than enough resolve to crush the greatest heroes that the world had to offer. I am more than a hundred person sure that it matches its namesake. You think I came up with it during my free time? Guess again!" Garou rebuked as veins started popping up under his skin.

"Ha! Evidently, the excess adrenaline got to your brain." Gwen sniggered mockingly.

"I survived a hole in my stomach, you frickin midget," Garou pointed out.

"And who's fault was that, you simpleton?" Gwen snapped back in a condescending tone.

"Oh, now you are ignoring the point." Garou felt his fingers quiver in rage as his eyes twitched, his lips creaking in an enraged rictus.

"So, what? There is no point when I'm talking with someone as thick-headed as you!" Gwen squealed, her gray skin lit up a bright red in frustration.

The two spectators watched the bickering two. Kevin wasn't sure whether to intervene or watch how it played out for his personal amusement.

"Wow. They argue like an old married couple." Kevin whispered over to Tetrax.

"Indeed. Are they young lovebirds by any chance?" Tetrax asked just in case.

"No, they're cousins. It's kind of… creepy." Kevin winced, his brown eyes darting from one person to the other.

"I'm more concerned with the context of their story than their relationship. Besides, some species and cultures allow such relationships to form," Tetrax shrugged.

"Really?" Kevin wasn't sure how to react to that nugget of information.

"You, diamond man." Garou abandoned the topic as he pointed at Tetrax. "Don't you have a ship or something to leave this planet?"

"Not a ship per se. I have a teleportation device in my belt. It will send me back to anywhere I please." Tetrax informed, struggling to point to the left pocket near his hip with his near-useless arm.

"...why'd you ask us to drag you outside then?" Garou pointed out.

"I need to be… within range. It is entirely experimental at the moment." Tetrax said as he struggled to reach for the device. His arm was shaking with tremendous effort despite its snail-like pace.

"Plus, you crippled my arms at the moment. I can't reach it now." Tetrax deadpanned with a disheartened scowl.

"I have no regrets," Garou spoke with seriousness.

Hearing this, Kevin and tiny Gwen looked at each other for a moment… and then they both broke down snickering at the memory of Tetrax's face when Garou blitzed him.

"Yes, haha. Laugh at the Petrosapien. Now assist me in my dilemma so I can depart!" Tetrax groaned sarcastically, his day growing more embarrassing than he would have liked.

"No, no. Let us laugh some more. Then you can leave." Kevin grinned and took a deep breath before he exploded with laughter.

"Ahahahahahaha!"

Tetrax was not amused.

"If you stop, I'll give you my hoverboard." Tetrax hummed, taking advantage of their young age with temptation.

Kevin and Gwen stopped when they heard 'hoverboard.'

"...maybe…" Kevin and Gwen looked at each other, both narrowing their eyes as frictions sparked. There was only one hoverboard and two of them. So… who gets the cool alien gadget?

"You already have the Omnitrix. I should have something too." Kevin smirked competitively, gesturing to himself with his thumb.

"What? So you can use it to break into the local gas station, ruffian? The obvious choice is for me to have it." Gwen protested in the nasal voice of Grey Matter.

"Take that back, midget!" Kevin growled, sparks of blue energy emitting from his fingertips.

"Make me!" Gwen childishly seethed. The two then went back and forth, hurling insults, one after the other.

While Garou and Tetrax stared and endured through the process.

* * *

After Tetrax teleported away in a vibrant flash of red, the trio made the trek back to New York City. Kevin and Gwen ultimately agreed to share Tetrax's hoverboard after an intense, overly long session of Rock-Paper-Scissors. However, Gwen had to agree to transform out of Grey Matter first so that she wouldn't have an unfair advantage.

But before they could start, Garou had to bring up an important question.

"Kevin," he called out. "I've been asking this for a while… what do you want to do from now on?"

"What do you mean, man?" Kevin asked.

"New York is one of our many pit stops." Garou pointed out. "And you're just some guy we just met by chance in an alleyway, so I want to ask. Do you want to come with us or stay?"

Gwen stared at Kevin, realizing that he was right. New York was Kevin's home. Kevin might be a jerk, but he somehow got involved in their private world of aliens and strange encounters. In the end, Kevin's place was here, although Gwen did not know why he was in New York alone.

"Well, what do you think?" Kevin asked in a hopeful tone. "I mean this day has been the most fun I've ever had. I got to punch an alien in the face! Heck, I get to see Garou destroy an alien! Twice! What gets better than that?! Of course I want to stick with you guys!"

Garou and Gwen shared a glance, considering their options.

"...we do have a mountain of food supplies…" Gwen pointed out, narrowing her eyes at the root cause for the need of them. Garou avoided eye contact, turning away from Gwen's accusing gaze.

"...would the old man even take him?" Garou asked, unsure if Max would allow it.

"Oh, shoot! We forgot about grandpa!" Gwen squeaked, looking up at the sky to see what time of day it was. She hoped he hadn't been waiting in the hotel for too long.

"Grandpa? You're here with some geezer?" Kevin laughed.

"Who do you think even thought of a trip around the country?" Garou reminded him.

Kevin could not argue with that train of logic.

"Guess that's true. So, you think the geezer will agree to take me along?" Kevin unsurely raised an eyebrow, shoving both hands in his pockets.

"Maybe. My grandpa's not an ordinary old man. He's had experience with aliens based on what we've gathered." Gwen guessed, realizing that Kevin was technically an inhuman as well considering his supernatural power.

"Our party is not ordinary now that I think about it…" Garou remembered.

One had a watch that could turn anyone into any life form in the universe. One was an old man with an unknown history with aliens. And he, himself, was a stranger from the outer universe that somehow got thrust into the body of an annoying brat, cursed to live with his annoying voice and weak, poorly managed body.

"How about we go ask him for you? It's not that long of a walk." Gwen offered tentatively, looking at Garou to see if he agreed.

Garou rubbed his chin, thinking about it for a moment. "Hmm, true. But you might have to follow some rules though… otherwise…"

Kevin did not need him to finish. He already knew that the kid could one-shot him faster than he could blink.

"Yeah, yeah I gotcha. Trust me. I've acted all goody-goody in the past. How do you think I got out of trouble with the cops and my mom?" Kevin slyly quipped, poking at his temple with a naughty gaze.

"Alright, then. Let's ask him. I'm sure he would say yes."

* * *

"No."

Grandpa Max glared down at his grandchildren with a displeased look. First, they wandered off for two hours and left him alone in the hotel room. Now, they have the gall to bring this troublesome punk along and ask him to come with them.

Kevin was waiting outside, resting his ear on the door to eavesdrop on the conversation inside.

"Why not? He helped Gwen escape from that bounty hunter. We beat up all of the bounty hunters. Plus, he has nowhere else to go," Garou pointed out.

"No, he has a family that he ran away from. Have you two even considered how worried his mother could be?!" Max fumed in disgust, knowing what it's like to be a concerned parent.

"Did we mention he also has the power to absorb energy? Think about it, Max. What would happen if you let him go alone unattended for so long with no proper direction? Are you really willing to condemn someone who is a little… lost?" Garou asked, using himself as a reference.

"I realize that, but you two don't know that much about him. He could just be acting like your friend." Max pointed out in a stern tone.

"Yeah, but…" Garou shrugged. "He saved Gwen. He could've run away when they attacked. There's not many out there who would stick around like that."

Max paused for a moment, breathing out a resigned sigh.

"Gwen, bring him in." Max gestured to the door, massaging his forehead.

"You don't have to." Garou pointed at the door. "He's already listening in. He can come in himself."

Realizing that he was caught red-handed, Kevin slowly opened the door and walked into the room. He sheepishly smiled as he waved at the old man in the red Hawaiian shirt.

"So, uh… hey there. You don't need an intro from me so… what do you think, pops?" Kevin asked, scratching the back of his head nervously.

"It's Max, son. What's yours… hm?" Max leaned forward, squinting his eyes. Something about Kevin seemed familiar to him.

"K-Kevin Ethan Levin." Kevin introduced himself.

Max's eyes widened slightly after hearing the last name.

"Levin. You're his son," Max uttered.

Gwen and Garou looked at Max strangely. This reaction was a new one.

"Kevin. Do you know your father's name?" Max asked insistently.

"Um, why?" Kevin asked, confused.

"Is it Devin E. Levin?"

Kevin blinked, his jaw hanging a little, "Wait, how'd you know my old man's name?"

"Eh?" Gwen and Garou looked at each other for a moment. They huddled together behind Max as they whispered.

"What are the chances that he is the kid of someone he knew?" Garou asked.

The odds of that were a million to one, and they were traveling on a roadmap around the country.

"Like a bajillion to one. The sheer coincidence is so weird," Gwen whispered back, feeling as if she was starting to know less about her grandfather than she thought.

"Is your family cursed or something?" Garou commented.

"How rude! But I cannot deny the strange coincidences..." Gwen muttered.

Was her bloodline really cursed? After the strange series of encounters, she had evidence to believe there was some force in the universe responsible for their strange lives.

"Son, I… knew your father way back when I was still in the military. He was one of my partners, and we fought side by side in our missions in other countries."

"What? Y-You knew him?" Kevin gasped in surprise, resting his hands on a nearby desk to keep his balance.

"Yeah. He was my last partner before he retired as a Plumber." Max informed, looking up at the ceiling in recollection.

"Plumbers? Like cleaning toilets?" Kevin's shock began to be replaced with confusion. Max shook his head, expectantly.

Max let out a small smile when he heard that.

"Something like that, but he was also a soldier like I was. However, he sadly passed away not long after retirement."

Garou whistled at the tidbit of information. The chain of events couldn't be more convenient than now.

"So… you'll be taking him in?" Garou asked. Something within him warmed, but he shrugged it off as always.

"Guess it'd be the right thing to do. However, when this summer's over, I'm taking you back home. I think you need to spend some time with your mother after this." Max lectured

Kevin groaned at the mention of returning home, "Awwwww, come on! I don't wanna!" Kevin whined.

Garou could relate with Kevin to some degree. After all, he was also a runaway.

"I'll visit," Garou added, waving his hand.

"Ben has parents too, you know. You'll have to meet them eventually." Gwen reminded Garou mischievously.

"Tsk. Well, that depends… if I can get out of this body." Garou rolled his eyes. He wondered what kind of parents Ben had? They must not be good to raise this kid so poorly.

"By the way, Ben's mom is a horrible cook." Gwen smiled brightly.

"...how bad are we speaking?" Garou's eyes rolled to Gwen, now concerned.

"Let's just say she's a weird kind of vegetarian. Emphasis on weird." Gwen informed.

Garou's face slowly degraded with horror. Gwen could understand, knowing how much of a health nut Aunt Sandra could be.

"Ugh! That's it, I'm getting out of this body if it's the last thing I'll do." Garou swore if he had to escape this hell. He preferred the other hell he made for himself than this one. Garou liked his freedom to choose his diet.

Kevin looked at the three, now confused.

"Uhh, am I missing something?" Kevin asked.

Max looked at Kevin, sighing as he pinched the bridge of his nose.

"Now… that's another long story…"

* * *

"Wait, are you telling me that you're a former villain from another universe and you're stuck… in a child's body?" Kevin asked as they made their way off to their next destination in the Rust Bucket.

Garou sighed as Gwen giggled, smiling at his predicament.

"If you want my honest opinion, if you met the original, he will be way less cool. And infinitely more annoying," Garou remarked.

"Like how uncool are we talking here?" Kevin pondered, lazily placing his feet on the table.

"Someone who only knows how to play video games, laze around, being disgusting, and oh, he leaves his dirty clothes all over the place… yeah, he is normal-ish. But it's the annoying kind." Gwen chimed in, placing her elbow on the table as she rested on her cheek.

"Hey, Sumo Slammers is a good game. I've played it once or twice." Kevin lied through his teeth.

He looked away a little, not wanting to tell them about his hidden stash of trading cards back home. He stole them sure, but they were still nice to look at.

"Alright. Which is cooler then? Training to become an actual hero or pretend to be a 'fat man' fighting other 'fat men?'" Garou asked, testing Kevin's values.

Kevin was about to raise his hand and object, but thinking about it now… he slowly lowered his hand and closed his mouth.

"Well, when you put it like that…" Kevin scratched his head sheepishly.

"See?" Garou scoffed.

"Have you ever played video games before?" Gwen asked, now curious of his childhood.

"I did once… then I grew out of it after I dropped out of school to train in Bang's dojo." Garou shrugged.

"Dude, that is a weird name. You gotta tell me more about these heroes your world has." Kevin burned with curiosity as he picked at his teeth.

Garou laughed as he recalled the heroes back home.

"Maybe later. I still haven't told Gwen the stories of each hero back home, honestly."

"Alright, alright. Still, I cannot imagine living in your world. Is it really overrun by monsters? What are they like?" Kevin asked with brimming interest.

"I wouldn't say overrun, honestly. My home… a lot more dangerous than here, if you ask me."

"Yeah, and it is an existential health hazard now that I think about it," Gwen added, remembering all the mentions of monsters popping up in his homeworld.

"That doesn't mean we aren't helpless. I was born there, you know?" Garou pointed at himself.

"Yeah, and you turned out even freakier than the ten aliens I have in my watch." Gwen jokingly pointed at her Omnitrix.

"So, what is it like? Training in the mountains to become a villain?" Kevin asked.

"What part do you want to know? The harsh gruesome training regimen or the fact everyone has to climb the mountain just to get to the dojo?" Garou joked.

Garou sort of lived in the dojo now that he thought about it. He did run away from home, after all.

"Is being in a dojo fun, though?" Kevin asked.

"Depends. If you consider countless hours of gruesome practice 'fun,'" Garou joked.

Kevin and Gwen chuckled at his humor.

"Aside from fighting, what else did you do?" Kevin brought up.

"I don't know what you mean." Garou raised an eyebrow.

"Did you ever like… have fun or something other than doing villain things or training?"

"What? I liked hunting heroes. And training is essential for the body and mind." Garou retorted.

"Okay, okay. I mean, did you have fun 'fun?' What do you do when you get bored other than what you usually do?"

Garou opened his mouth for a moment… then he slowly closed it.

"...uhh…" now that Garou thought about it, he could not remember, honestly. His daily life was nothing but hardship and perseverance ever since that fateful day.

"He had a rough childhood, Kevin. Besides, I don't think it's easy for anyone to enjoy anything when monsters are lurking in every corner." Gwen interrupted him in an understanding tone.

"Well, if you put it that way, why not start over? I mean…" Kevin looked at Garou, inspecting him from head to toe. "Actually, what do you look like before you…" He waved his fingers around, gesturing to Garou's original appearance.

"Oh, I am older. I don't look whiney, I am fit, and my body is toned. I've survived flames, a Monster King's beat-down, psychic power, broken bones, and even the damn Baldy's smackdown that I will not delve into for obvious reasons."

Gwen spluttered when he mentioned the baldy with comical hate. Now Gwen wanted to meet the guy that beat some sense into the former Hero Hunter.

"But all in all, I would say I look kinda terrifying… in a way," Garou hummed in thought.

"How old are you exactly inside?" Kevin asked.

"Eighteen."

Kevin nearly coughed out as he lurched forward from his seat, placing his feet down out of shock.

"Whoa whoa whoa. You're eighteen? You telling me you kicked some serious hero and monster butt at eighteen? Duuuude, you are definitely hardcore."

"Hah! I am a prodigy, kid. Is it wrong for me to push my talents past their limits?" Garou scoffed with pride.

"Whoa. Wait, now that I think about it… Ever scored some chicks?" Kevin asked.

Garou raised an eyebrow in confusion.

"Why would I do that?"

"Why would you-you're a complete bonafide badass! Dude, you're literally the coolest kid in the world right now! I mean, you should totally try out your bad boy charm on the girls!" Kevin nearly shouted as he pointed at Garou.

Garou hummed in thought as he wondered about that. He had never considered a love life before, honestly. In all his life, he was alone… that was kind of sad, now that he thought about it.

Garou glanced at Gwen… who did not look amused by this topic. Frankly, he could not bother thinking about this any longer, so he decided to change the subject.

"Anyways, what about you?" Garou asked Gwen, pointing at her watch. "According to the cripple, presumably, your weird watch has the 'genetic code of every living thing in the Universe' or so I quote. If that's true, then why are you limited to only ten?"

"Well, before Tetrax left, he told me something about the Omnitrix being a work in progress. The more I use it, the more aliens and abilities I will unlock." Gwen explained, dialing through each of the current ten aliens at her disposal.

"I still call dibs on his hoverboard. You don't need it anyway." Kevin spoke out before she could get the early worm.

"I won that Rock-Paper-Scissors match and you know it!" Gwen snapped in irritation, smacking her fist on the table.

"You got a watch that lets you turn into anything! What'd you even need it for?!"

"Because it is cool, and I beat Tetrax fair and square! I get the victor's spoils!" Gwen retorted.

Garou snickered as the two butt heads against each other as they resumed their bickering over the hoverboard. While Garou was interested, he did not need a working device that grants him flight, despite how cool it was. Right now, he preferred… trophies. He would settle for the loot he got from the bounty hunters, the laser claw of Kraab, and the laser sword of Sixsix.

He smiled as he looked back, seeing his trophies piled up in the back of the RV. It was tough convincing the old man to let him have it, but he caved in when Garou said he wanted mementos of their time together before he finally leaves Ben's body and returns home.

There were a bunch of scraps from Kraab and Sixsix as well… he wondered if…

* * *

**In case you're wondering, Ben 10's canon is screwed like hell. There are cases of Azmuth not exiling himself to another world like when he created the galvanic mechamorphs and so on, so we decided to create an original canon of sorts that suits the series best to avoid the confusion while including the other villains from Omniverse and Alien Force. Hope you guys enjoyed it :D**


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